Creating Woman in a Red Kimono – 02-07-21

Website link: https://corneakkers.com/woman-in-a-red-kimono-02-07-21
Print: https://corneakkers.com/print-woman-in-a-red-kimono-02-07-21/
Printable: https://corneakkers.com/product/printable-woman-in-a-red-kimono-02-07-21/

Woman in a Red Kimono

This drawing of a woman in a red kimono is based on a session with my regular model. It so happened that I teamed up with a student of mine who rents a lovely studio in The Hague. Much bigger than my own studio it was perfect for model sketching, also because of the lovely sofa she has. Another student could bring along a smashing red kimono. Since I was busy doing my short Geesje Kwak series this came as a great opportunity. Time to take a little side step and do this one while Geesje still is on my easle.

A New Love for Realism

Perhaps it is an understatement to say I have no particular love for realism. However, there are some reasons to deviate from this. I already had a cubistic work in progress and frankly I was keen on studying satin textures and folds. Another reason was the model and textiles around her seemed to merge into eachother from a tonal point of view. Abstracting them would not have turned for the benefit of them all. Moreover, I was attracted to the subtle shifts in tonality of it all, almost embedding the model in the negative space perfectly.

Boxing in the Motif

The lower part of the composition showed a lot of dark plains, due to the satin turning dark there. The background in the top section was a little too light so I decided to darken that one up. This way the model and the fabrics are boxed in to the centre of the depiction. This position came early during the session and I think her face still was in cheerful expectation of the pose we would choose. Sometimes these not premeditated casual expressions are the best. Anyway, back to my oil painting for the rest of July.

Graphite pencil drawing (Sakura 0.5 mm, 4B) on Talens Bristol paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm – A4 format)
Artist: Corné Akkers