Two Seated Sleigh c. 1939

Rolland Ayres made this drawing of a two-seated sleigh, and you can really see how the watercolor paint works with the paper to give this image a delicate feel. I love how Ayres uses a limited color palette, mostly reds and creams, to give this drawing a cohesive look, there’s a real warmth to it. Look at the way the red is layered, almost like he’s building up the color in thin washes, and how the details are added with a finer brush. It’s really about the process, about letting the paint do its thing. Notice the way the lines of the sleigh aren’t perfectly straight. There’s a little bit of wobble to them, which gives the drawing a kind of folksy charm. Reminds me a bit of some of the early American folk artists, like Edward Hicks, who were more interested in capturing the feeling of a thing than getting every detail exactly right. Art isn’t about perfection, it’s about expression.