Young woman wearing a large  hat 

Giovanni Boldini made this watercolor sketch of a woman in a large hat sometime between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. While the materials are traditional – paper, pigment, water – there is nothing traditional about Boldini’s approach. See how he wields the brush, almost like a calligraphy tool? The ink washes across the page, pooling to form contours and shadows. He must have worked very quickly, and it would have taken tremendous skill to apply the watercolor with such confidence. Although the subject might be seen as high society, the artist's mark-making points to a different kind of labor. He used the brush more like a practiced craftsman than an academician. So, next time you are looking at a drawing, think about what is added to the image, by how it was made. Because the distinction between art and craft is not about what you do, but how you do it.