Rain 1939

Edward R. Ferguson made this drawing, Rain, using graphite on paper. The image is built from delicate marks, small lines that together evoke a wet, gray day. It's a great example of how artmaking can be a process of layering and building. The material aspects of this work are pretty straightforward: graphite on paper. But look closer and you'll notice that the texture is created entirely by these tiny, individual marks. The artist uses varying densities of marks to describe the landscape. The gas tanks in the background seem to fade into the sky. The marks feel almost like individual raindrops. Notice how the artist has rendered the bare tree in the foreground, with the tiny, scraggly lines defining the branches against the muted sky. For me, this drawing recalls the work of Charles Burchfield, who also found beauty in the everyday, industrial landscape, though with a slightly different touch. It shows how artists are in constant conversation across time and space.