Sketch for the Opera, The Golden Cockerel, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1909

Ivan Bilibin made this stage sketch for Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera with watercolor and ink. I love the way the built environment warps and leans. And the crisp linearity combined with the soft gradations of watercolor? Divine. Look at the surface: you can see every little stroke and stipple of the brush. Bilibin doesn't hide his process. For me, that adds a feeling of honesty. The overall effect is both decorative and slightly unsettling. Check out the building on the right with the red curtain. The details are meticulous, but the perspective is wonky in the best way. And the colors! That acid yellow against the red is like a slap in the face—in a good way. It reminds me of the vivid palette of Henri Rousseau, who also created these fantastic, dreamlike scenes. Both artists revel in the power of color and form to transport us to another world, a world that bends the rules of reality.