Lithuanian castle 1922

Anna Ostroumova-Lebedeva made this drawing of a Lithuanian castle with a pencil, and I immediately start thinking about its greyscale dreaminess, and what it was like for her, standing there, making a work about this place. I love the attention to detail, the small moments of light and shadow, and I imagine she liked standing there drawing it. I see the soft, diffused light created by the pencil strokes and the surface of the river reflecting the architecture above. Look how the strokes become more intense to define the architectural elements. I can feel the carefulness in her hand, the control. But look at the top of the image and see how loose the pencil work becomes: it's free and expressive. The artist is in conversation with the castle, the river, and the viewer of the drawing. It is a beautiful and delicate thing.