Sketch made on Indian Reservation c. 1890

Walter Shirlaw made this sketch on an Indian Reservation using graphite on paper. The drawing captures several figures, each rendered with a distinct, economic use of line. The composition is informal, resembling a page from a sketchbook rather than a finished work, giving us a sense of the artist's immediate impressions. The artist's hand is evident in the varying pressure of the graphite, creating depth and shadow with minimal means. Shirlaw destabilizes established academic drawing conventions by emphasizing immediacy and raw observation over idealized representation. The use of line, rather than volume, to describe the forms reflects a modernist shift towards abstraction and the reduction of subjects to their essential visual elements. Consider how Shirlaw's sketch, with its structural emphasis on line and form, challenges fixed notions of representation, opening a space for interpreting the cultural and artistic dialogues of its time.