Dorpsgezicht met molen c. 1909s

Alexander Shilling made this light pencil sketch, Dorpsgezicht met molen, directly into his sketchbook, maybe even en plein air! I'm picturing Shilling quickly capturing the bare bones of the windmill and its surrounding landscape. What's interesting is how minimal it is, just a handful of lines, scratches, and shaded areas. You know, it's like the essence of a place distilled into a few strokes. I bet he was thinking about how much information he could leave out while still creating the illusion. Look at the windmill itself. See how the horizontal lines suggest the turning blades? It's barely there, but your mind fills in the rest. It’s a quiet conversation between the artist, the scene, and us, where seeing becomes a kind of shared, imaginative work. I love this kind of provisional thinking; it makes art feel alive.