Friday, 11-Nov-11 22:47:00 CET

Being on to something special - Alma

This model was planned to come two sessions to gallery De Stoker in Amsterdam. I am a regular guest at the studio of Maroesja on the Sundays where models can pose for artists. The model is posing for three hours with breaks every half hour.

For the first session with Alma, on 30 October 2011, I came to the gallery well on time. Maroesja had decided to paint the back of the model. On the other side of the model a crowd of artists gathered their easels preparing to paint the front of the model. After a while the gap in between was filled in with artists that came late so the places in the gallery evened out.

I used a fair amount of time of the first session to construct the drawing with charcoal. Normally I am hasting the drawing so that I can start with the paint as soon as possible but this time I had decided to make a proper review of what I had been drawing before starting with the paint. From time to time I took a couple of steps back to compare the drawing with the model. I also have a little mirror that I use to look at the model through the mirror in such way that I can see the model and the drawing on the same time. Somehow you can get blind to the weakness of your own drawing and with a little mirror it is as if you can peek into the unbiased reality. There are a number of tricks to use that you can find in books about drawing portrait and model.

It was evident that when I had finished the charcoal drawing I was on to something special this time. This feeling was something that I held on to the entire first session. I was not polishing at all as I usually to do; there was simply no time for that. It was necessary to use the time efficiently. When the session had come to an end I was happy with the result. The polished style is nice too but this was also really nice. The likeliness with the model was not bad either. One comment I got was that “I had a nice touch”. In Dutch it is called “toets”. This was a new term for me. The phenomenon is new to me. I think I can try to make use of this in more paintings.

Alma had tan lines of a bikini over her breasts. Some people don’t like tan lines but I have no problems with tan lines. On the contrary, the lines formed interesting patterns on Alma’s chest so I exaggerated the difference between the more tanned brown with the paleness of her breasts.

At the next session with Alma, 6 November 2011, I had been walking around “two inch above the ground” one entire week, enjoying the feeling of being on to something. When I was standing there at the easel the subsequent Sunday I realized that “just” painting a background, hair and hands was not going to be easy at all. I painted nothing on the face so no time was wasted there. I painted the background and the hair fairly quick as well. Then it was time for the hands. After almost two and a half hour painting only that hand I was out of my feeling of being on to something. Game over. Hands are difficult. With my feet’s back on the ground I packed my things and went home.