Isabel Bishop Early Sketchbook c. 1928 - 1936

This is Isabel Bishop's Early Sketchbook, and just from looking at it, I already feel like I know how she thinks about image-making. The overall effect is one of searching – each sketch is composed of lots of lines, not quite finding the edges of the forms, but getting there bit by bit. There’s a lovely cluster of figures to the upper right, all hunched together, their forms only loosely defined. I get a real sense of how Bishop looks, considers and then reconsiders a subject. The pencil work is light, almost tentative, yet confident in its looseness. Thinking about process, I see Bishop building up the images through layering, letting the previous marks show through, almost like a conversation with herself on paper. It reminds me of Degas, another artist who understood the power of embracing imperfection. Art's about seeing, thinking, and feeling, and Isabel Bishop really gets that.