The Jungle 1912

Joseph Pennell made this drawing, called 'The Jungle', with ink on paper. I can imagine him crouched over his page, rapidly sketching to capture the depth and density of this environment. The lines are so precise, but the scene is so open to interpretation; it really is a jungle of marks! I sympathize with the artist, trying to capture the teeming life of the environment in static, monochrome lines, but it almost works. The eye travels along the train tracks to the river, then up the cliffs. I wonder if Pennell found this a calming space, or was he anxious about what lurked in the shadows? For me, drawing and painting are embodied expressions which embrace ambiguity and uncertainty, allowing for multiple interpretations, and so does Pennell's picture. Artists are constantly in dialogue, responding to each other across time, and inspiring each other's creativity.