Stefaan De Crook

The Journey is in the Debris Usually, an artist mixes fresh paint to get the right color. Belgian artist Stefaan De Crook (a.k.a. STROOK) does the opposite. He hunts for materials that have already lived a life.

He scours abandoned buildings for old doors, floorboards, and furniture. He doesn't paint over them; he cuts them up and reassembles them like a puzzle. For our theme of Haerenga, De Crook teaches us that texture is time. every scratch, stain, and layer of peeling paint on his portraits tells the story of where that material has been before it became a face.

The Geometric Reconstruction

This final Phase 1 workshop focuses on structure and resolution. After the dissolution and chaos of previous workshops, we use geometry to rebuild the subject into a new, resilient form—a fortress against the journey's toll.

The Mission: Contemporary artist Stefaan de Crook doesn't just paint portraits; he builds them. He scavenges discarded wooden doors, planks, and furniture, using the original weathered colors of the wood to construct massive, geometric faces.

Today, you will translate his sculptural technique into a 2D mixed-media collage. We won't use saws and timber; instead, we will create our own "reclaimed materials" out of paper and paint, then cut and reassemble them over a photographic portrait.

Workshop Objective

To use geometric fragmentation and simulated assemblage (wood grain, stone, flat colour) to organize organic forms into architectural structures, held together by rigid lines. Understand Directionality: Use the "grain" or brushstrokes of their paper to imply volume and contour, mirroring De Crook’s wood placement

Required Materials

The Base: A high-contrast black and white portrait photograph (printed on cardstock or sturdy paper). Ideally A4 or A3 size.

The "Lumber":

Scrap paper, old book pages, cardboard, brown packing paper.
Texture source material: Photos of concrete, wood grain, or peeling paint (can be printed).

Mark Making: Acrylic paints (earth tones: ochre, umber, grey, slate blue, white), ink, wide brushes, palette knives (or old credit cards).

Tools: Scissors, X-Acto knives (craft knives), cutting mats, glue sticks or matte medium, tracing paper (optional).

PHASE 1: The Lumber Yard (Creating Your Materials)

Stefaan de Crook finds his colors in urban decay. You need to create your own stock of "building materials" before you begin constructing the face.

1. The Palette: Abandon the rainbow. Mix an "urban" palette using acrylics: slate greys, burnt umber, ochre, muted blues, dirty creams, or rust reds.

2. The Texture: On scrap paper or sketchbook pages, create 3 to 5 different sheets of texture. Don't just paint flat colors.

Dry Brushing: Use a stiff, mostly dry brush with a small amount of dark paint. Drag it quickly across lighter paper to simulate wood grain.
Scraping: Apply a thick layer of paint and immediately scrape over it with an old credit card or cardboard piece to create a "peeling paint" look.

3. The Value Check: Ensure you have sheets that are light, sheets that are medium-toned, and sheets that are dark. You will need all three to create shadows and highlights.

PHASE 2: The Blueprint (Mapping the Face)

Before cutting your textured paper, you need a plan.

Take your base portrait photograph.
Using a pencil and a ruler (or drawing on tracing paper over the photo), analyse the face.
The Rule: You are not allowed to draw curves.
Break the round forms of the cheeks, nose, forehead, and chin into straight-edged geometric shapes (triangles and irregular polygons). Think low-poly computer graphics.

PHASE 3: Construction (The Collage)

Now, assemble your portrait using your custom "lumber."

1. Match the Value: Look at a specific shape on your blueprint (e.g., the dark shadow under the chin). Find a piece of your textured paper that matches that darkness.

2. The Golden Rule: Directionality Before you cut the shape out of your textured paper, look at the "grain" (the brushstrokes) you created.

The grain must follow the form of the face.
If doing the neck, the grain should likely be vertical. If doing the jawline, angle the grain to match the jaw. This creates the illusion of 3D form.

3. Cut and Paste: Use scissors or a craft knife for clean, sharp edges. Glue the piece onto your base photo.

TIP: use baking paper to trace the shape from your image and cut this out totrasnfer to your woodgrain

PRO-TIPS for the "Strook" Aesthetic [strook is the artists alias]

Hard Edges Only: De Crook cuts wood; he doesn't tear it. Your paper should have crisp, cut edges, not torn ones.
Leave the "Grout": Try leaving a tiny hairline gap between your paper shapes, allowing the base image or a dark background to peek through. This emphasizes that the face is constructed of separate pieces.
Defacement is Okay: De Crook often obscures parts of the face entirely. Feel free to block out an eye with a solid piece of texture, or leave one section of the original photograph completely untouched for contrast.

Level 3 Success Criteria (AS91446)

Achieved Successfully breaks an image into geometric shapes and fills them with texture/colour using a ruler.
Merit Shows understanding of planar analysis. The shapes accurately describe the 3D volume of the subject (e.g., the facets turn the form of the cheekbone) rather than being random patterns.
Excellence Demonstrates compositional unity. The arrangement of textures, colours, and lines creates a sophisticated, "constructed" aesthetic that serves the "Safe Haven" or "Reconstruction" concept.

Critical Reflection / Thinking

Does the figure look protected by the geometry, or trapped inside it?
How does turning flesh into "wood" or "stone" change the meaning of the portrait?
Is this the final stage of the Haerenga—a hardened shell?

Juan Gris + cubism

Pablo Lobato

Kohlben Vodden

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