Sketches by Willem Krijgsman

Sketches by Willem Krijgsman is the art book about figurative sketches on paper by the in Finland living Dutch Visual Artist and Interior Architect, Willem Krijgsman (born in 1953, Delft). This is his third art book: in 2023 and 2024 Books on Demand published two books about his art. With an interesting interview, he explains, why he wanted to publish the book about his sketches. The publishing of his first art book made him aware of the plenty of art, he had made during the years. He thought, now, that he is 70, it is also a good reason to look back and go through his artworks and see, what he can do with them. During the creation of his second book, he amazingly noticed a lot of sketches made around 25 years ago. Most of them were sketched in sanguine and Indian Red colour, trying out the Old Master’s way of drawing and sketching. He decided to write again a new book. He says: In three books I have introduced all my art – it feels like a trilogy. In his extensive, wonderfully illustrated, new art book he is showing us, how sketching can be art on its own. He touches a variety of subjects: art history, human crisis situations in Africa, humanity, some of his idols in music, sculpture and painting, anatomy, all kinds of tribes and native people, despair, intimacy, erotica, even hairstyles, with many portraits and collage-like pictures. The items, he had chosen as his models, were randomly taken from pictures at hand – interesting, inspiring photographs from newspapers, magazines, art books, picture books etc. He is telling us, that he is needing models: I remember that Rembrandt’s students were learning by copying his drawings, etchings and paintings. I didn’t just copy the pictures, that I had taken as models: I was given them my own watermark, sometimes in a humoristic and grotesque manner.