Vlerkprauwen op het strand - Bali 1937

Wijnand Otto Jan Nieuwenkamp made "Outrigger boats on the beach - Bali" with pencil. When I look at this drawing, I think about the life of the artist and the sea. What was it like for Nieuwenkamp to stand on that beach in Bali, the sun beating down, the boats bobbing in the water? Maybe he felt alone, or perhaps the community around him was thriving. Nieuwenkamp was always travelling - India, Bali, Sumatra, Java. Always sketching. The delicate hatching captures the light as it wraps around the hull of the boats. The details of the rigging are precise, the image solid. When drawing, I think that sometimes a line wants to be wobbly! This artist doesn’t seem to allow himself that freedom, even if the composition is complex. He has such control. But then, doesn't making art always involve a conversation between constraint and freedom? These boats remind me that artists are always looking, absorbing, and transforming what they see into something new and meaningful.