Raging, Wotan Rides to the rock, like a storm-wind he comes! 1910

Arthur Rackham made this drawing, Raging, Wotan Rides to the rock, like a storm-wind he comes!, with pen and ink, and watercolor. See how Rackham teases out a full range of values, using a limited palette of grays, browns, and just a touch of color? That feeling of brooding energy is really built up from the surface. All those wispy lines, creating soft cloudy effects, give the image a sense of movement, like everything’s vibrating. The light seems to emanate from everywhere and nowhere. If you look closely at Wotan’s horse, you can see how Rackham uses short, scratchy lines to build up the form, almost like he's sculpting the horse out of the page. Rackham was one of the leading illustrators of the late 19th and early 20th century, and his style is a reminder that art isn’t just about what you see, but about how you see it. You can see the echoes of artists like Albrecht Durer in his graphic style. Rackham's work demonstrates how art exists as a kind of cross talk through time.