Afrikaanse vrouwen die schalen op het hoofd dragen c. 1916 - 1945

Reijer Stolk made this sketch of African women carrying bowls on their heads, and you can see the drawing emerge through trial, error, and intuition. I love that you can see Stolk figuring things out right there on the page. He's trying to capture the way they balance those bowls, the way their bodies move, everything! He's really thinking about how to represent the feeling of weight and balance. You can sense the physicality of the graphite on paper, the pressure and release in each line. It's almost like a dance between his hand and eye, and his imagination. I wonder if he was thinking of other artists who drew figures, like maybe Matisse or Picasso? Artists are always in conversation with each other, you know? Anyway, Stolk's sketch shows us how drawing isn't just about copying what you see, it's also a way of understanding and feeling the world around you. Each mark carries a little bit of the artist's intention and emotion. It's ambiguous, but that's where the magic happens, right?