Skitser af dyrekranie 1900 - 1905

Here is a quick sketch of an animal skull by Niels Larsen Stevns, which sits in a sketchbook page with a few other drawings. The lines are so light, so loose, like he's just feeling out the form, letting the pencil wander and find its way. It's all about the process of seeing, isn’t it? Look at the way he's built up the shadows with these tiny, scribbled marks. You can almost feel the texture of the paper, the graininess of the pencil. It's not about perfection, or even accuracy. It's about capturing a fleeting moment, a sense of something. See how the lines around the eye socket are darker, more defined? It draws you in, makes you wonder what the animal was like, what it saw. This reminds me of drawings by Marsden Hartley, that same raw energy, that willingness to embrace imperfection. And that’s the whole point, isn’t it? Art is not about answers, it’s about questions.