Gezicht op Woensdrecht 1909

Alexander Shilling made this spread of sketches titled Gezicht op Woensdrecht with graphite on paper. Looking at these landscape drawings reminds me of the simple pleasure of using a pencil; just a stick of graphite making marks on paper. I feel like drawing is a way of thinking, a way of processing what’s in front of you, and these images feel more like a thought than a statement. The surface of the paper is so visible in these images, with small flecks and imperfections showing through the pale graphite. There are so few lines in each drawing, but somehow they manage to suggest a place. That single vertical mark with a few zigzags is a windmill, but it’s also just a line. It embraces ambiguity. The casual intimacy reminds me of Guston’s late drawings, and how he was able to suggest so much with so little. Shilling’s marks are light, and simple, but contain a lot of information, just like Guston’s.