Landscape with Sheep; verso: blank page 1859

Editor: This delicate pencil sketch is "Landscape with Sheep" by Benjamin Champney. The soft lines give it such a dreamy, ethereal quality. What strikes you most about the composition? Curator: The linear structure is paramount. Notice how Champney uses the faintest of lines to establish spatial depth. The foreground, subtly defined, leads the eye towards the implied volumes of the trees and the distant hills. Editor: I see what you mean. The lack of strong contrast almost flattens the perspective, yet those subtle lines create a sense of receding space. Curator: Precisely. Consider the inherent tension between the two-dimensional surface of the paper and the illusion of three-dimensional space that Champney is attempting to create through minimal means. What effect does this tension produce? Editor: It makes me appreciate the power of suggestion, how little is needed to convey so much. Thank you. Curator: Indeed, a valuable lesson in the economy of artistic expression.