Band met een bladmotief c. 1901

This pencil drawing is by Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof, and depicts a leaf motif. It is an early idea, a band of triangles, in what looks like a sketchbook. It has an unfinished quality, almost mathematical, but also organic, like he is thinking through the process. The repeated forms create a kind of rhythm across the surface, almost musical. You can see how the artist has used a very soft pencil, allowing for a build-up of tone and texture. I can imagine him, in his studio, working away at this sketch, trying out different variations. Maybe he’s playing, testing the limits of the form? Dijsselhof probably drew from life, maybe his own garden. He draws plants with this beautiful directness, finding new ways of seeing. We are all connected, and artists are in an ongoing conversation, inspiring each other’s creativity.