Copyright: Rijks Museum: Open Domain
Alexander Shilling made this drawing of farmhouses with a pencil, and you can really see the hand of the artist at work. It's all about the process, feeling the graphite glide and scratch across the page. The texture is so immediate, it's like you can almost feel the roughness of the paper. The hatching that defines the sides of the houses is very deliberate, while the roofs have a frantic, almost scribbled energy to them. The markmaking is so evocative, communicating the feeling of a breezy, perhaps even bleak, day. Look at the way the lines vary in thickness and direction, creating a sense of depth and shadow. Shilling's 'Boerderijen' is a bit like a quiet conversation with Van Gogh, wouldn't you say? Just imagine him sketching these houses, capturing the essence of a place through simple lines, and leaving it open for us to wander into.
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