Belgium research & sketches: Melissa Hecker

   I was really intrigued by the work of Rene Margritte and Leon Spilliaert. Margritte was a Belgian surrealist painter who used themes of ordinary objects in an unusual context.

   Here are some rough sketches of their work that I emulated. I would like to work with the aesthetic of architecture juxtaposed with landscape. This has been a common theme in some of my previous work.  I would like to experiment with different compositions of negative and positive space through the use of monochromatic tones.

   For the content of my illustration, I am mostly interested in authentic Belgian architecture, specifically from Brussels. Here are some images of buildings that I referenced.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/brussels.html 

Also it is interesting to see the changes in Belgian architecture throughout the centuries. This is a good website I found that lists images of buildings starting with the Romanesque era and ending with current 21st century buildings.

http://www.eupedia.com/belgium/belgian_architecture.shtml