Plempen in een sloot, ten zuiden van Amsterdam 1927

This drawing of boats in a ditch south of Amsterdam was made by Maurits van der Valk, probably on site, with colored chalk on paper. I can imagine Van der Valk, balancing his pad on his knees, trying to capture the watery light. See how he layers thin marks, one on top of the other, letting the image gradually emerge. This feels like a diaristic drawing, charting a moment in time. And I love his color choices here: the muted blues and greens of the boats against the pale browns of the muddy bank, the way he allows the paper to breathe through it all. I know as a painter myself, I'm always thinking about surface and support, what the material can do. I bet that Van der Valk was too. It’s an ongoing conversation, like artists speaking to each other across the ages. Each mark, each layer is a kind of question or answer.