Skip to main content

A new project


Hands' private life

I have always been fascinated by human hands. I believe we often can understand not only the ideas or meanings but also the emotions expressed by hand gestures only, without involving any other body parts. Some of my first drawings I made some decennia ago were human hands. One of them even became my logo as you can see on my webpage and on my business cards.

Speaking of business, from the 1st of November I am officially an artist by the Dutch law (this means actually no more than being registered at the Chamber of Commerce). Let's see what new opportunities it can bring. As always, I am open to suggestions, offers, commissions, etc.

Back to the hands, I am thinking of a new project portraying this special part of the human body. I had done some studies before and I am now working on a sort of self-portrait, trying to catch and bring over a certain emotion or a meaning.

In Despair. Oil on canvas 30 x 24 cm. View the finished painting in my gallery.

Sold by Saatchi Art in July 2023 to private collector N.T. in Pennsylvania USA 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Master Studies

  Studying  I believe that practice is the best form of learning, and master copying is the most effective to practice while studying. Since we always (aspire to) learn, I find that copying a masterpiece that inspires you is an excellent method to achieve this.  In essence, master copying is not about creating perfect replicas; instead, it's about gaining a deeper understanding of artistic principles and techniques. It's a valuable tool for any artist seeking to improve their skills and expand their knowledge.  From time to time, I will update this post with my new master studies. Here are some: May 2025 After J.C. Leyendecker painting "Couple on Deck Chairs. 1904" I have been fascinated by the works and biography of this great Golden Age artist for a long time. Recently, I finally read a beautiful book titled simply, "J.C. Leyendecker", written by Laurence S. Cutler and Judy Goffman Cutler. His name and influence were most prolific; his private life was kep...

You'll Get Over It

  What could possibly happen? Something tragic, I assume. I am sure you can imagine dozens of situations where this setting could be possible. Regret, revelation, anger, shock, despair, compassion, support, consolation, reassurance, forgiveness, unbelief, doubt, fear... All of these might apply to the people in this painting. And all these are actually expressed with hands. And there will be nothing of these when you think those hands away, I'm afraid.   This is another small one in my series Hands' Private Life. I painted it all prima with my limited palette of Burnt sienna, Ultramarine blue, Yellow ochre, Cadmium red and Titanium white. As reference, I used the photographs Paul and myself took of me and my hands, in four different settings.    While thinking about how to name this piece, with my music on, the Legacy by PSB suddenly started to playback. The lyrics were so true, my mood was quite down, and the title was chosen. (And first I was thinking of calli...

Sunset

Summer Evening at Ameland Beach For quite some time, I had an idea to paint a female figure strolling with a dog on the beach during the golden hour. My inspiration was probably even more heightened during my last year's visit to the Skagens Museum , where I admired the seascapes by Peder Severin Krøyer and Michael Ancher in person. Well, all I needed was the right beach at the right time, along with some models. And counting my blessings, the southwest shore of our island, known for its glorious sunsets, is just around the corner. And I am especially grateful to our neighbour, Jennifer, and her graceful Weimaraner, Vito, for kindly agreeing to be my models. So we agreed to wait for a clear evening before heading out for a beach stroll. My models were doing a great job, and I could take plenty of photographs to use as references for my painting.  I had once created a small painting using a counterlight effect, and I liked the process. Now, I wanted to apply what I had learned to a...