Twee afgemeerde schepen op een strand 1929

Lodewijk Schelfhout pulled this monochromatic print, Twee afgemeerde schepen op een strand, without a date, but likely sometime between the two World Wars. I wonder about the act of creating this image, building up layer upon layer of tiny marks to create such a detailed scene? I feel for Lodewijk here, as he labors away to define the textured rock and choppy sea with such dedication! The varying tones are just mesmerizing. How did he decide where to put the darkest darks? How do the darks function to hold the image together? Look at the sky. Those marks, the hatching and cross-hatching, give the clouds so much density. It reminds me of some of the German Expressionists, Käthe Kollwitz for instance. Like them, he has transformed an observed scene into something imbued with feeling. Painters and printmakers are always looking at each other, building on what came before, and pushing each other forward in a slow dance across time. They remind us that uncertainty can be embraced, leading to new ways of seeing.