Illustrations for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill" 1956

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this illustration for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill" with, it looks like, a delicate, scratchy pen. You can almost feel the nib of the pen dancing across the page. Look at the cross-hatching that gives depth to the man's clothes and the wild, untamed quality of the bushes around them. What was it like to sit with the author’s words, imagining these characters, a small child looking up at a man, and then finding just the right lines to bring them to life? I love how the land stretches out behind them, a horizon line that fades into the distance. Havrylenko has an understanding that the smallest mark can suggest an entire world. It reminds me of other illustrators whose work feels deeply rooted in place and imagination. Isn't it wonderful how artists, through their work, invite us into their world, and, in turn, inspire our own?