Louise Brooks – 07-07-23

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Stardom

This graphite pencil drawing ‘Louise Brooks – 07-07-23’ is another homage to the famous flapper girl, celebrity and moviestar. To whom it may concerns: to me she remains an unexhaustable source of inspiration. She has been photographed many times in the 1920s and 1930s during the so-called ‘art deco’ era. Combine that bobcut with dramatic lighting and you’ll catch my drift. Surely her life hasn’t been easy post-Hollywood but ups and downs make her all the more intriguing. A true star in her own right. That’s just a quick carreer sketch and now for the artistic one.

Artistic Interpretations

With her bob haircut she continues to fit my cubist needs quite nicely. Of course it’s not the first time I drew or painted her. The last one was from December 2022. In fact, the reference picture I used for the current one is from that same session. A slightly differerent angle though. Sometimes for outsiders it can look pretty daft to use an artistic motif for the second time. For artists it’s different. Dutch portraitist Philip Akkerman uses only one: his own portrait for 40 years now. I have done the same with a single motif, creating smaller and bigger series in the past. So it’s all about the ‘how’ and not the ‘what’. Every drawing and painting spawns a different interpretation. Endless possibilities for creation.

Skip the Flowers

This time I set out to discover what I could get more out of a fantastic photo. Put on the track of combining straight and curved lines I decided to do the top of her body. Her hand on the chairrest looked beautifully styled. Almost completely hanging down vertically. However, flowery patterns on her vest and blouse I skipped this time. The same goes for the geometric butterfly-like patterns in the back. Instead, the pattern created by extrapolating features of her head into the negative space around it did the job. The same goes for the attire. Finally I’m happy with the balance between straight and curved lines and planes. A promise for the future.

Graphite pencil (Faber Castell Pitt Graphite Matt pencil 14B) drawing on Fabriano Ingres paper (21 x 29.7 x 0.1 cm)

Artist: Corné Akkers

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