Liggende bok 1934 - 1936

Leo Gestel made this drawing of a deer, called "Liggende bok", at an unknown date with pen and ink. What I like about this is the simplicity and assuredness of the line. Gestel isn't messing around. Look how he creates an entire animal with just a few deft strokes! You get the sense of the deer's stillness, its alertness, all with the bare minimum of marks. It feels so casual, but that's the deceptive thing about drawing – it's both immediate and reflective. You can imagine Gestel observing this animal, distilling its essence down to these crucial lines. The line itself has a wonderful quality: consistent, dark, with a slight unevenness, which gives it character. It reminds me of the drawings of Matisse, or even some ancient cave paintings where artists captured the spirit of animals with incredible economy. There’s a timeless quality here. Artists are always looking, always drawing, always responding to the world around them. They are transforming what they see into something new, something that speaks to us across time.