Corne Akkers Art

On the Brink of a New Year This pastel drawing ‘Neo Deco – 28-12-24’ is a test really. At Brugman Art I found this new mix media paper made by Clairfontaine. Sturdy and nice 250g/m2 paper that comes in different colours. Lately I am having fun doing pastels again. That must be have been motivated by last month’s live model drawing sessions held in ‘De Blauwe Tram’. So there I am, on the brink of a new year. All things in due order: a brand new page I built on my website and enough artworks created in December. After a couple of months I picked up oil painting again. My project ‘In Hoc Signo’, based on a drawing under the same name, is waiting for completion. In between I had some spare time to do a little drawing. This is the result. Need for Speed Another reason for this pastel drawing was the speed I made last pastels with: within one hour. It made me realize how much fun it is to create a sort of ‘on a whim’. Basically with the same intent I made ‘Neo Deco – 04-11-24’. There is no real innovation in these, only cubist styling I applied. That’s enough for me for the moment. Normally I always striving for incorporating something new. Just like some kind of genetic mutation in each consecutive work. However, not this time. Instead, I tried to feel how this new paper would react to my chalks. Quite nicely I must say. Green Paper The paper itself has not an impressive tooth but it clings on pigment particles efficiently nonetheless. My eye felt on the green paper in the block. The result is a bit magical. The female form I forged looks like a green bronze statue...

A Culmination This oil painting ‘Neo Deco – 27-08-25’ is the result of 13 previous graphite pencil drawings of Assia Granatouroff. Finally colour has touched her sweet featu...

Second One This oil painting ‘Neo Deco – 04-07-23’ is the second one in the series under the same name. The first one was a first attempt to put my ever growing series into ...

Angular Times The next one in the Risque series. After my previous colored pencil drawing ‘Risque – 18-01-22 I wanted to experiment with angular structures again. The reason is that I already did one in my roundism style (Risque – 11-01-22). One could say I was looking for yet another challenge. In the description to aforementioned drawing I wrote about cross-overs between abstraction and realism. This time it was time to set loose this ambition of mine on straight-edges plains. See if I can get away with a realistic impression wrapped in abstraction than it lets on at first glance. Flash Lightning The reference picture is taken during the session of December 30th 2021. That was a great one and I directly fell in love with her chair and rugged blanket. Notwithstanding her roundness by definition Julia happened to took this position with her arms spread. Her left leg was placed in a spectacular angled position. The result was a flash lightning, running from her toes up her leg and spine, branching towards her arms. The tonal rhythym of light and dark plains did the rest. I could not think of a better model and a better position. The Cat Executing the drawing and almost finished I felt something was missing though. It seemed the left corner did look a bit empty. It needed an introductory detail. There simply was only one thing that came to mind, almost automatically: her cat. She happens to have a Scottish Fold...

Another Fine Dutch One Time for a tribute to Lourens Alma Tadema and why not? Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Mondriaan and De Kooning are house hold name...

Great Concept This oil painting ‘Cosmic Dance – 10-12-23’ is an elaboration of my graphite pencil drawing ‘Roundism – 10-03-20’. Many of them still are in queue. Anoth...

Golden Reality – 14-09-20 Golden Reality My last drawing was slightly cubistic but today I did this realistic one, that I would like to name ‘Golden Reality’. Realism is no...

An Enrichment This drawing ‘Sans Titre – 25-02-25’ depicts American celebrity and moviestar Carole Lombard. Her carreer covered the 1920s, 1930s until her tragic death in 19...

Back from a Sore Back This graphite pencil drawing ˜Roundism “ 22-12-22 follows after ˜Neo Deco “ 10-12-22. Usually I make one drawing per week but my mind was occupied with an oil i...

Just Another Artistic Motif This graphite pencil drawing ˜Venus Lamenting “ 13-01-23 is a special one. It is an indictment of prudishness. My second to last one ˜Roundism “ 30-12-22 apparently shook up a bunch of people. Comments varied from great to ˜yet another tit pic. There also were prudes from various countries who scorned me for the subject nudity anyway. Throughout the years I became used to these reactions somehow. I also take into account the fact people from each and any nation are present on social media nowadays. With this variety comes a whole set of different opinions and views of life. I cherish them all. That is, as long as they cherish my opinion back. If they dont, then this art statement is for all those who lack the word reciprocity in their dictionary. Climbing the Barricades Personally I think the nude can be as much an artistic motif as any other. In fact I dont complain in the least about a world of other motifs. One could like to depict golden retrievers, red roses and other darling, save and sound themes. I see them on a daily basis on Instagram and Facebook among others. I probably wouldnt have made a big fuss because of contempt shown in the past. Thats what an artist is all about. I even like to provoke with my nudes a bit. A bit of sexiness but not too much. Just to be able to deny the presence of too much of it by underligning artistic aspects as well. Hmm, a bit of risque here an there. I love it! Why climb the barricades once again? Heres why. ArtKitchen In a dutch paper, called ˜NRC there was this item on Jeannette Dekeukeleires. She is the gallery owner of ArtKitchen in Amsterdam, known for its stimulating and provocative art...

Preparatory Trip This graphite pencil drawing ‘Delft – 19-03-23’ is based on a trip to that city only yesterday. You see, I was visiting the place with my parents in prepara...

Once Again Once in a while I get that itchy feeling again that makes me want to turn to roundism. The last one by that title I made half a year ago. In between lie an odd couple...

Different Styles Another variation in the Risque Series. After my last graphite pencil drawing ‘Risque – 22-01-22’ I was searching for something new. I just don’t like to ...

Freedom above All The West has recently become familiar with the phrase ‘Slava Ukraini’. Obviously everyone who is a democrat and values freedom above all can support the meaning of this slogan. It seems as if the world has split into the good and the bad all of a sudden. The free world is pro and some rascalious countries keep supporting Russia’s goals. Strange how Europe and NATO can feel united more than ever whereas recently disunity was rife. Strong Ukrainian Women Vesna – 14-03-22 was my last oil with the Ukrainian theme. Somehow I felt the story for me to tell wasn’t finished yet. My reference graphite pencil drawing ‘Hold Your Horses – 04-01-22’ had the Scythians as theme. Strange why I chose to do an oil ‘Una in Aliam – 01-09-19’ covering the same topic three years back. In particular it tells of the legend of the Amazons. Legend has it they were Scythian warrior women on horseback. No great mind is needed to associate them with modern strong Ukrainian women rising up against the Russian agressor. And so I read the story of a woman from Kiev who bought a sniper rifle just to be able to defend her city and country. This painting is to honor those women and of course all freedom fighters in the Ukraine in general. New World Order There also was another reason to do another Ukrainian painting, to me an urgent one. Instead of fearfully waiting for whatever new world order will arise I decided to create one myself. This painting all makes sense to me. Ukrainian’s struggle is not theirs but ours too. A couple of days ago I commented on a post by Jerry Saltz. I stated law school was the best preparation for my work as an artist. Now I know why. Becoming a master in international law makes me mastering my artistic diction as well. I cannot ever be a soldier but I hold sound weapons in my hands: pencil and brush! Everything Gold The statues symbolize my view on art. I think they are beautiful and the pinnacle of aesthetics. One of them is Anton Gratz’s and the other ones I don’t know who made them. Makes me realize I maybe should start an art movement called ‘back to aesthetics’ by the way. The gold paint is a reference to the world famous Scythian gold...

The Venus of The Hague – 23-07-20 Being a deep sea fish a coelacanth hardly ever come face to face with a white shark way up high but sometimes it does. If so, what would you ex...

Something Different And now for something completely different: Roundism again. After ‘Art Deco Nude – 11-08-22’ it was time to unleash my Faber-Castell Pitt Graphite Matt pencils on Roundism. I delved into my stash of art deco photographs...

Shine a Light This pastel drawing ‘Model Session – 26-03-24 – 1’ was the first I made during this month’s session. We were back at ‘De Blauwe Tram’ in Leidschendam, ...

The Revelation of Bettie Page (2018) In this painting I tried to work out some grand themes: sex and religion. There is nothing more to say about the ‘what’. About the ‘howâ...

A Full House This pastel drawing ‘Model – 18-02-25 – 1’ includes a Ukrainian woman with very expressive eyes, called ‘Galyna’. Back again in municipal centre ‘De Bla...

Greta’s Rival This graphite pencil drawing ‘Sans Titre – 02-10-24’ depicts Ukrainian moviestar and celebrity Anna Sten. She is sometimes compared to Greta Garbo. Allegedly...

Roundism – 30-05-18 This drawing is all about the sensuality of the female figure. Even though the model did not show too much tonal bandwith I was able to discover some real gr...

Blue Velvet Reprise This graphite pencil drawing ‘Solarized Roundism – 24-02-23’ stems from the latest session with my regular model. Solarization is back on the menu and I ...

Clueless as to Female Forms This graphite pencil drawing ‘The Magere Brug in Amsterdam – 09-11-23’ is rather realistic looking but let me explain why. Of late I started sket...

Another Live Session This graphite pencil drawing ‘Model Session – 06-10-22’ stems from an earlier session. However, I had a model session with my favorite model on the 6th ...

A Sort of Try-out This graphite pencil drawing ‘Berg en Dal – 25-10-23’ puts me back on track. Lately I was planning to do some more cityscapes, treescapes and landscapes. T...

Art Deco Feel Wag the dog was the first title that came to mind when I saw this beautiful photo. It stems from the 1930s I think. It has this incredible art deco feel about it. Ho...

Cleopatra – 22-12-18 When I saw the reference picture I was inspired to turn the model sitting in a bath with lots of foam around her, into a donkey milk bath with Cleopatra in ...

Shifting Gear Another Risque painting depicting my muse Julia Filament. Two oil paintings earlier I already did an Ukrainian theme but why not use it once again. After all, the Ru...

The madonna of The Hague (2015) This painting is the culmination of the many previous graphite pencil drawings. Oil on wood panel (85 x 120 x 0.9 cm) Artist: Corné Akkers ...

Color Addition This pastel drawing ‘Free Floating Blue Wave Nude – 10-02-21’ is based on a previous graphite pencil drawing ‘Roundism – 19-07-16’. In my art statement to...

How Neo Deco Came About This oil painting ‘Neo Deco – 02-08-24’ is an elaboration of my graphite pencil drawing ‘Roundism – 08-10-17’. At one given moment Roundism bec...

Back to the Narrative This graphite pencil drawing ‘Slava Ukraini – 28-09-23’ incorporates a narrative or theme again. Neo Deco – 20-09-23 merely knew a formalistic approa...

Second One This pastel drawing – 17-12-24 – 1 is the second one of this month’s live drawing and painting event. As explained in my art statement to my pastel of the first s...

A Beautiful Spot This graphite pencil drawing ‘Den Haag – Lange Voorhout – 15-05-23’ depicts a beautiful spot in the heart of the city. Originally it formed the offshoot o...

All the Right Angles This graphite pencil drawing ‘Risque – 11-01-22 is the third one of Julia Filament after the session of last 30th December. As previou...

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head This graphite pencil drawing ‘Clingendael – 31-03-23’follows up my previous one of Delft. For no particular reason I wanted to draw a bit of nature again. Or is it that I long for nature blossoming in Spring? Whereas in the Po Valley, Italy and Spain people scream for rain we get it here in abundance. It’s raining cats and dogs during March and this everlasting wind. Bleh! Then again, March and April in The Netherlands are famous for their unpredictability. For the time being it’s sketching indoors and therefor I draw from the stack of last year’s photos. Lambs in Clingendael There is this specific spot near the entrance of estate ‘Clingendael’ where they keep some farm animals. Besides horses and cows, sheep can also be found there. I never have been a sucker for depicting little lambs, darling ponies and golden retrievers. The spot that marks this drawing was special though. The picture was from last May and sunshine was creeping through tree leaves. All of a sudden a little lamb was caught by the light, just about to drink from the through. Just a lucky shot with the camera I think which comes in handy on a rainy day like this. The moral of the story is this. A subject can’t be corny enough as long as it is lit in a beautiful way. Not the First Time When I come to think of it, I have done some animals only themes in the past. Homage to a Dying...

Let It Rest This graphite pencil drawing ‘Solarized Roundism – 16-06-23’ I started quite some time ago. Directly after A Non AI-Driven Neo Deco Celebrity Nude...

A Mixture of Styles This graphite pencil drawing ‘Louise Brooks – 02-09-25’ is a mixture of surrealism, cubist styling and art deco. Louise, two cats and an elephant combine...

Beek-Ubbergen – 01-10-20 50 Hues of Pink Beek-Ubbergen again and 50 shades of pink in honour of the fact that colour is highly underestimated in landscapes and outdoors in gene...

Perfect Side View This pastel drawing ‘Model Session - 18-02-25 - 2’ is my second of this month’s session. During the first I had a front view with some interesting razor li...

Sans titre – 26-10-18 When I was looking at the reference picture of Angie Dickinson my colleague at Studio Brugman, Gilbert said her face looked almost chiseled like a statue. ...

Under an Hour A quick model study, inspired by a photograph by Laure Albin Guillot. After my graphite pencil drawing ‘Art Deco Nude - 23-08-22’ I frantically worked on my curr...

Portrait of Princess Wilhelmina (Tribute to Thérèse Schwartze) - 23-08-24 A Great Independant Female Artist This pastel drawing ‘Portrait of Princess Wilhelmina (Tribute to...

De Smorenhoek – 17-12-20 A Beautiful Meadow Some time ago I visited De Smorenhoek, a small but long meadow surrounded by wood embarkements. From Beek-Ubbergen it runs upwards to Berg en Dal. For years I haven’t visited the area and I thought I should visite it once more. Unfortunately it was a drizzly day and even though the scenery showed great motifs it was too grey to spot some exciting tonal ranges. Lucky for me my dad...

The sheik of Araby - 15-10-17 I always love this jazz song and when listening to jazz doing my nudes in my apartment I made the connection all of a sudden, as I often do between v...

The Japanese garden 2 (2014) The second of two pastels on the Japanese Garden at estate 'Clingendael' at The Hague, Netherlands. This one is as impressionistic as the first and I'...

Typical Cubist This oil painting ‘Neo Deco – 15-10-25’ is an elaboration of a drawing in my previous Roundism style. A typical cubist piece work of art. Something I was real...

What Name It Bears … This graphite pencil drawing ‘Neo Deco – 26-01-23’ counterparts my previous one ‘Roundism – 20-01-23’. The reference picture is from the same mo...

First Oil This oil painting ‘Nina - 13-10-23’ follows a prestudy I made last August. As stated before, she is a great model with a gorgeous body. I feel honored to draw and pa...

Art Graf Debutant Of late I am exploring textures of fabrics like satin, silk and all other shining objects such as gold and silver. Two months ago I made the first one, depicting...

A Lovely Model This graphite pencil drawing ‘Neo Deco – 02-09-24’ shows a lovely model called honey_kiss_rus again. Obviously that’s her online name. You can check her out...

Bart van der Leck This graphite pencil drawing ‘Bastet – 15-10-24’ is made in honor of dutch artist Bart van der Leck. Or should I say his famous painting ‘De Kat’? My parents had the poster in our house so I’ve known it all my life. If you want to see it on display please go to the Kröller Muller Museum here in The Netherlands. It’s worth the trip and you get all the Van Gogh paintings as a bonus. There was a direct reason to associate Bart’s painting with the artistic motif at hand. Christian Coigny Christian Coigny is a Swiss photographer who once took a picture of a woman with a cat. The latter is sitting on a central heating system. The position reminded me of Van der Leck’s cubist cat...

The Second One This colored pencil drawing ‘De Smorenhoek – 15-12-24’ is my next impressionist one after ‘Royal Estate – 12-12-24’. This time in color. This isn’t th...

Gjon Mili’s Inspirational Influence This oil painting ‘Neo Deco – 07-05-25’ is an elaboration of a recent graphite pencil drawing ‘Neo Deco – 10-03-25’. Homage to Al...

Ms Bacall This graphite pencil drawing ‘Sans Titre 30-10-24’ is inspired by a picture of Lauren Bacall in a satin dress. Not the first time though I immortalized her in graph...

Cows This graphite pencil drawing ‘Beek – 08-09-25’ combines cubism with atmospheric depth. Cows, trees and a lovely view over the Ooijpolder. In the back on the right is th...

Another Carole This graphite pencil drawing ‘Sans Titre – 09-06-25’ revisits American celebrity and moviestar Carole Lombard. More art deco-ish and less cubist, I guess. As ...

Unsolved Mystery This graphite pencil drawing ‘L’inconnue de la Seine – 12-10-25’ handles a curious case of an unsolved mystery. Imagine a beautiful yet drowned woman and ...

American Celebrity and Moviestar This graphite pencil drawing ‘Sans Titre – 02-06-25’ depicts American celebrity and moviestar Jean Harlow. A mixture of art deco and cubism ...

Roundism – 12-06-18 It is time to put down a kind of art statement for a change. Lately I came to think about my kind of art a lot, inspired by comments and questions like what ...