During his training at the Kunstoefening drawing school in Arnhem, Mekkink struck up a friendship with Dick Ket, who became his inspiration. Mekkink drew this precise work – his very first self-portrait – while still working in his father’s furniture workshop and earning extra through commercial illustration. He alludes to this with the circular saw, drawing board and the cover of a trade magazine for advertising. An easel to the right betrays his ambitions: Mekkink wanted to be a painter.
