Het Gevoel 1683 - 1733

Bernard Picart created "Het Gevoel" using a reddish crayon on paper sometime around the turn of the 18th century. Red chalk, as it is known, is created from iron oxide, and was a popular choice for preliminary sketches due to its rich color, which is similar to sanguine. The granular quality lends itself to creating a variety of effects and tonal depth, which you can see here in the build up of marks and textures. Though seemingly a quick sketch, chalk drawings like this require a lot of skill. It is quite unforgiving, and therefore demands confident handling. The artist cannot easily erase mistakes, so instead, builds layers of meaning through tone and mark-making to reveal their subject. Ultimately, Picart has deftly used the characteristics of his chosen material to create a work of art of depth and emotion. This emphasizes that even works on paper can convey complex narratives through material and process.