Figuren in een interieur c. 1930 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this pencil drawing, "Figuren in een interieur," with a playful, searching line. It reminds me that artmaking is a process, full of starts and stops. The surface vibrates with all these tentative marks, as if Israels is mapping out a space, not just depicting it. Look at how the lines around the figures are so dark and weighted, compared to the background which is just a flurry of scribbles. It's like he's saying, "These figures, they're the point, but the space around them is important too." That scribbled area to the left, those frantic lines—they remind me of Cy Twombly's work, a similar dance between chaos and control. Art isn't about getting it "right," it's about the conversation, the exploration, and embracing all the beautiful, messy possibilities along the way.