Iron Railing c. 1936

This drawing of an iron railing design was made by Ernest A. Towers Jr. sometime during his lifetime, which stretched from the mid-19th to the late 20th century. The monochromatic grays and whites remind me of architectural renderings. I imagine the artist carefully sketching, measuring, and rendering each leaf and curlicue, probably with a hard pencil. There is a smaller sketch to the left with notes about the dimensions. I wonder if this drawing was ever realized. Did the artist have a building in mind, or was this just an exercise in seeing? I suppose we all start somewhere. I think about the ironwork I’ve seen in New Orleans, how those artists might have sketched and dreamt, and I can see this connecting to that. Thinking through drawing. An artist seeing through another artist's eyes!