Posts by Deej
Kitchen La Cachette
Kitchen La Cachette by Derek Kosbab 2010 While on holiday in Europe during 2010, Joie and Derek stayed in a friend’s village cottage, La Cachette, in the French village of Varzy in the Burgundy region. The village dates from the 1300s and the cottage—a three bedroom, two lounge, two bathrooms and one kitchen cottage of two floors—dates from the 1600s. During the first couple of days I would...
Read MoreWeeping Woman
Weeping Woman, Paris, October 26 1937 by Pablo Picasso, copy by Derek Kosbab 2010. Weeping Woman (Dora), (60 х 49 cm, 23 ⅝ х 19 ¼ inches) is an oil on canvas painted by Pablo Picasso in 1937. Picasso was intrigued with the subject, and revisited the theme numerous times that year. This painting was the final and most elaborate of the series. It has been in the collection of the Tate Gallery...
Read MorePortrait of Shirley Hazzard
Portrait of Shirley Hazzard by Derek Kosbab Shirley Hazzard, born 30 January 1931, is an Australian author of fiction and nonfiction. She was born in Australia, but holds citizenship in Great Britain and the United States. Her 1970 novel The Bay of Noon was shortlisted for the Lost Man Booker Prize in 2010. Hazzard was born in Sydney and attended Queenwood School for Girls in Mosman, but left in...
Read MoreCourtyard
Courtyard by Derek Kosbab In a book titled Free Expression in Acrylics authored by John Hammond I found a picture similar to the one above. To test my ability to paint this sort of landscape using a lot of colour, I hand-copied the picture leaving out some elements from the original. Then, using my own selection of colours had a go at painting it. I am pleased with the results, in particular,...
Read MoreSeated Woman after Picasso
Seated Woman after Picasso with feathered mask and dog by Derek Kosbab 2010 When I had finished this painting, I wondered what the picture would have looked like had Picasso painted it as a nude. So, I drew the seated woman unclothed. In doing so I discovered something surprising. Look at Picasso’s clothed picture below, in particular, the woman’s left leg, that is, the front leg. Trace the...
Read MoreWoman in the Garden
Dame dans le jardin (Woman in the Garden) Sainte-Adresse 1867 by Claude Monet 800mmx990mm, copy by Derek Kosbab 2010 Claude Monet, was labeled an impressionist artist and is famous for his water-lily paintings done in the years leading up to his death. Claude Monet liked the label impressionist and said, ‘I am, and I always wish to be, an Impressionist.’ Impressionism was a 19th-century art...
Read MoreSeated Woman
Seated Woman by Picasso (1920) copy with addition of a dog by Derek Kosbab 2010 In 1920, Picasso painted a series in oils of females whose limbs were proportionally exaggerated. I really like this one and have copied it in a larger format than the original 92cm x 65cm. Sitting quietly in the background is me: represented as a dog. It has been my recent decision, whenever copying famous artists...
Read MoreCynicism
Cynicism by Derek Kosbab 2010 Acrylic on canvas: 610mm x 760mm This is a simple portrait in which the male pictured expresses cynicism. I am not sure the male really has a cynical look on his face, but he certainly was thinking cynically. What do you think? Is this a cynical man or simply a man thinking cynically? Leave your thoughts below.. and please, no cynicism! $1,000.00 via PayPal Shipping...
Read MoreThe Dessert: Harmony in Red
The Dessert: Harmony in Red, Henri Matisse (1908), copy of by Derek Kosbab 2010 Acrylic on canvas: 1000mm x 1200mm I’ve been looking at this picture in art books for fifty years and am quite familiar with it. When, in Amsterdam this year I visited The Hermitage Museum (the famous Hermitage Musuem is in Leningrad but they have opened a branch in Amsterdam and transferred some fabulous artwork)...
Read MoreBridge Road Richmond
Bridge Road Richmond Young Adulthood by Derek Kosbab Bridge Road was a focal point for my last school years through to when I first worked fulltime after leaving school. My last years at school were spent at Richmond Technical School just a short walk along Church Street from Bridge Road. At Richmond Technical School I was bullied by a tall blonde haired German kid. I have no idea why this kid...
Read MoreRichmond Childhood
Richmond Childhood by Derek Kosbab My family, mother Doris, father George, me Derek and younger brother Michael arrived in Australia as ten-pound passage immigrants from post-second world war Britain in 1952. After an adventure-filled 18 months in Fingal Tasmania in the care of our Australian sponsor, we made our way to Melbourne. Our first house purchase was in Alban Street Richmond. Alban...
Read MoreNight-Time Paper Seller
Richmond Childhood Night-Time Paper Seller by Derek Kosbab When I was 12 years of age, I was a paper-seller in Bridge Road Richmond, from the corner of Church Street moving west up the hill towards the city for about 100 yards. For some period of time I sold papers after school until early evening. Mostly, I stood outside of the ANZ bank and sold papers to passengers getting off the tram that...
Read MoreChurch Street Richmond
Church Street Richmond Childhood by Derek Kosbab Part of my childhood during 1952-1962 centred around Church Street Richmond since where we lived in Alban Street was adjacent to Church Street. The nearest major intersection to Alban Street is Church Street and Bridge Road. Bridge Road was named for the bridge over the Yarra river at its eastern end; and, Church street for its churches. Most...
Read MoreFamous Last Meals
Four Famous Last Meals painted by Derek Kosbab: Research indicates that some of the stories below are apocryphal rather than factual. Regardless they interesting stories as the topics for paintings. This is a set of 4 paintings known as ‘Famous Last Meals’. Francois Mitterand (1916-1996) was the 21st President of the French Repulic. His last meal consisted of: oysters, foie gras,...
Read MoreSydney Heads
Sydney Heads, 1925, woodcut, printed in black ink on paper, from one block, hand-coloured, 186mm x 252mm, by Margaret Preston (1875-1963), copy by Derek Kosbab Margaret Preston’s original of this artwork was just 186mm x 252mm was a woodcut, printed in black ink on paper, from one block and hand-coloured. My copy is square and more than three times larger. When she died in Sydney in 1963, Hal...
Read MoreTayla in intensive care
Tayla in intensive care by Derek Kosbab (2007) In 2007, soon after the car crash that left Tayla injured and unconscious, my brother Michael emailed a photograph of her in hospital. On 2 December 2008 I received the following email from Mick. A Moment in Time It should have been an exciting day. After some 13 years working for a couple of different bosses. I was starting my own Handyman...
Read MoreInterior with Young Girl Drawing
Interior with Young Girl Drawing, 1935, Pablo Picasso, oil on canvas (size unknown), copy by Derek Kosbab. Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) painted this colorful picture on an oblong/rectangular canvas. My copy is square and was hand-copied and drawn using charcoal. Because I altered the dimensions of the figures, when almost finished the picture looked wrong. So, I added some shapes indicative of...
Read MoreThe Wedding
The Wedding by Derek Kosbab (2010) One night when I was at life drawing class I began to wonder how different life would be if everyone went without clothes. I thought that I might paint a series depicting normal life events such as shopping, gardening, eating dinner with the family, working in an office, going to the football or a funeral, but with everyone nude. This acrylic sketch was my...
Read MorePatrick White
Portrait of Patrick White by Derek Kosbab 2008, from a newspaper photograph. Patrick White is one of my favourite authors. He is pictured here in his 70s, irascible, down at mouth and as elderly male Australians—especially returned soldiers and footballers–seem often to be seen: with large ears Often, as I am reading his books, I can visualize the characters or settings. To my way of...
Read MoreMetaphor
Metaphor (Australian bushfire, regrowth, recovered bushland) by Derek Kosbab 2007 When clients come to WorkForce Plus, often, their lives have been subjected to ruin and devastation by the effects of unemployment, personal and familial difficulties or lack of academic or vocational achievement. Futures look bleak: skies are darkened. At WorkForce Plus, through the support, care, education and...
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