Child's Boot c. 1937

Earl Butlin made this drawing of a boot, with what looks like graphite, charcoal, or maybe conte crayon. You know, the way he's built up the tone with all those tiny strokes, it's really something. I can imagine him squinting at this object, puzzling over it, trying to figure out how to translate its three-dimensional reality onto a flat surface. The dark areas around the toe of the boot and down the side really give it weight. It’s like he's having a conversation with the boot, each mark a question, each shadow a potential answer. It’s like he's saying, “Okay, boot, show me what you’re made of. Show me your secrets.” And in return, he immortalizes the boot in art. I’m not sure what this says about childhood, but, in my own work, I’m constantly in dialogue with other artists. I like how Earl Butlin is here, too, showing us how something ordinary, like a child’s boot, can be extraordinary when you really look at it.