Sans Titre – 02-06-25 by Corné Akkers

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 really. She didn’t star in many movies but that’s due to her untimely death in 1937. Often called the successor to the worlds first sex symbol Clara Bow she was the predecessor of Marilyn Monroe. The more I draw those actresses of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, the more I realize there were so many. Not even included minor celebrities but Jean Harlow is far from being one. Instead she was the female opponent to famous male stars such as Clark Gable. Time to do her justice and give her a deserved slot in my Sans Titre hall of fame.

Some Abstractions

Captured in chiaroscuro settings by Hollywood photographer George Hurrell the reference picture inspired me to pull my cubist tricks on her. There were some crops in the composition and some abstractions as well. Personally I didn’t like the ruffles in the chair. In the lower right corner there were too many crumbly tonal extremities of stuff I couldn’t figure out. So I made them more easy to digest for my viewers. The focus is on the sheer dress and facial features and this brings me to the reason of this drawing. Two years ago I made a small series, called ‘Art Deco Nude’ basically kicking off my Neo Deco series with.

My Favorite Ingres Paper

I also remembered what good fun it was to draw on Hahnemühle Ingres paper. Every sort of Ingres paper I worked on has its own appreciated qualities. However, Hahnemühle’s is especially grainy, allowing me to create very soft gradients. Almost cloudy or foggy. In fact, it’s the same paper I used for all my latest live model drawing sessions. Lately I have the feel of doing some more oil paintings. Therefor this little snack I allowed myself to do within a couple of hours. After all, these Art Deco Nudes of 2022 all were made within 4 hours max. An example is Art Deco Nude – 20-08-22 which came on a whim I remember. Consequently I keep up with my oil endeavours and still be able to draw weekly. More to come as oils progress slowly but surely.

Pitt Graphite Matt pencil (Faber-Castell) drawing on Hahnenmühle Ingres paper (24 x 31 x 0.1 cm)
Artist: Corné Akker