Koeien bij een sloot 1919 - 1921

Willem Cornelis Rip made this drawing, Koeien bij een sloot, with graphite in some unknown year. You can see how Rip used his pencil here, almost like a swarm of tiny marks all grouping together. I like to think of this as Rip’s way of building up the image, like a kind of slow, deliberate process. The marks are so light and feathery. The graphite feels almost dry, giving everything a soft, hazy quality. Look at the way the cows are barely there, just suggested by a few scribbled lines, and the grass in the foreground is like a flurry of quick strokes, like a flurry of chaotic marks. This reminds me a bit of Corot, where everything feels like it’s dissolving into light and air. It is a reminder that art is not always about capturing a perfect image, but more like a conversation, a way of thinking through feeling.