St. Francis preaching to the Birds 1922

This is M.C. Escher's 'St. Francis Preaching to the Birds', and it looks like it was made with woodcut. Just imagine the precision and care it took to carve that block! Escher has given us a scene brimming with detail, each bird rendered with its own distinct character. It's like he's showing us how to really look, to see the individual within the collective. Each line of the artwork is there for a reason. It isn’t just a description of the scene, but a thought process, a way of seeing the world. I imagine Escher, sleeves rolled up, meticulously carving away at the wood, thinking about perspective, pattern, and the sheer joy of rendering each little feather. He is following in a long tradition of artists who’ve looked closely at the world and tried to capture its essence. Like the surrealists, he’s inviting us to see things a little differently.