Seven Towers (from Sketchbook) 1904

Mary Newbold Sargent made this sketch of the ‘Seven Towers’ with graphite on paper, sometime during her life. What I love about graphite drawings is how immediate they feel. You can almost see Sargent sitting there, quickly capturing the scene, letting the shadows lead the way. Notice how she uses dense, layered marks to build up the forms, especially in the large tower and the foreground hill. The texture of the graphite gives everything a kind of soft, hazy quality, like a memory. The way she scribbles in the trees and foliage feels so spontaneous. And then, right there in the hill, there's a dark, almost ominous doorway. It’s just a little mark, but it adds so much mystery. It makes you wonder what's behind it. It makes you want to know more about the architecture she is sketching. It reminds me a little of Piranesi's etchings, where every line feels charged with history and imagination. It is, I think, this potential that can be revealed through mark making that speaks to me most.