Slak 1887 - 1924

This is a small pencil drawing of a snail, "Slak", by Julie de Graag. It's a very direct, intuitive piece, a simple contour drawing that captures the snail's form with just a few strokes. I love the way the lines vary in thickness, giving the snail a sense of volume and weight. The shell is rendered with elegant curves, while the body has a more textured, almost scribbled quality. Look closely, and you'll see how the artist uses short, broken lines to suggest the snail's slow, deliberate movement. This mark-making feels very honest and unpretentious, like a quick sketch dashed off in a moment of observation. De Graag was a contemporary of Piet Mondrian. Both artists had a similar interest in the natural world. But whilst Mondrian took inspiration from nature to move towards geometric abstraction, de Graag was interested in the fine detail and process of observation. For both artists, though, the artmaking process was one of ongoing conversation, exploring and representing the world in new ways.