Vier koeien in een landschap 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel sketched these four cows in a landscape using crayon and charcoal. I love how economical the marks are. It's a great drawing. You can imagine the artist outside, watching the cows, making decisions about where to put the lines and colors. The cows appear to be grazing in the pasture while the artist is observing, trying to capture them with marks. I wonder how much time he spent on it. Was it a quick sketch, or did he keep adding little touches to the work? It looks like Gestel used very soft materials, like pastel or charcoal, for the main forms. The black outline makes the figures stand out. You can feel how the artist made the image with their hands. The quick, assured marks capture the attitude of the cows, as well as the landscape behind them. It reminds us how we learn from each other and how drawing or painting, can be such an intuitive and physical process. There are no fixed rules!