Hollandse ooievaar 1876 - 1951

Theo Nieuwenhuis made this drawing of a stork in Holland, with what looks like charcoal or a soft pencil. It’s all about the process, isn’t it? The quick decisions, the confidence of the line. Look at how he captures the essence of the bird with so few strokes. The legs, so spindly and precarious, are just a few flicks of the wrist. Then there's the body, more massy, filled in with darker marks. What I like about this piece is that you can almost feel him making it. It's immediate and direct. Nothing is obscured; it's all there on the surface. It reminds me a little of Picasso’s quick animal sketches – that same feeling of capturing the spirit of a thing with the least amount of fuss. It's about the conversation between the artist and the subject, a dance of looking and marking. Sometimes it’s the space between the lines that speaks the loudest.