Park Arentsburgh – 20-04-23

One amongst Many

This graphite pencil drawing ‘Park Arentsburgh – 20-04-23’ stretches all the way back to the outer rim of Voorburg. However, my last drawing of Marlot is totally on the other side where The Hague ends. Such is the region Haaglanden where all kinds of little parks are to be found. Tucked away sometimes, where only dog walkers and joggers dwell. Once in a while an occasional artist dwells there, looking for suiting motifs to draw. That would be me. I see it as a task bestowed upon me to call a bit of attention for these little jems.

Forum Hadriani

The place actually is the very spot where Forum Hadriani once stood. Not that you could notice nowadays. All the remnants are gone now. Only some plaques to explain where and how the old roman city was situated. The park itself is comparatively small, even feels a bit snug. However, there are some old trees to be found and a little pound. Hence some water reflections, catching leafy structures in the water. Enough to draw wonderful artistic motifs from. And so I did but that was only last year. It’s still freezing cold, especially today. The north wind made me put on gloves again and trees are not fully in leaf yet. So a draw from my hugh pile of reference pictures this time as well. But I am patient. General Winter soon will disappear. Lucky for me, too bad for Putin.

In-Betweenie

Back to my drawing. This one has become a bit of an in-betweenie. That means, I was drawing this, completing my oil ‘Melina Noëlle – 18-04-23’. Painting sucked up most of my attention last week but I have some spare time left occasionally. So I sketched this one bit by bit waiting for my students at Brugman Art. I finalized it today doing some bits and bobs, especially in the leaves. Quite hard to differentiate in the leaves in the back and to get some contrast in the front. I started out hatching in my peculiar diagonal stroked style. Soon I found out I had to cross-hatch in order to make it more interesting. Perhaps you will agree?

Graphite pencil drawing (Sakura 0.5 mm, 4B) on Winsor & Newton Bristol board paper (21 x 14.8 x 0.1 cm – A5 format)

Artist: Corné Akkers