Landschap met water en een molen 1914 - 1916

This landscape with water and a mill was made by Willem Cornelis Rip using graphite on paper. It’s like a quick thought, a visual note jotted down. The drawing has this raw, unfinished quality. You can see how the graphite is applied in layers, building up tone and texture. It's not about perfection. The artist has used the pencil like it's a part of their body, you can almost see him working and reworking the marks on the page to bring the water and trees to life. I am drawn to the reflection in the water, these little scribbles mirrored back up from the page. It is in these moments that the artist lets his hand take over from his eye and something very special emerges. I'm reminded of other landscape painters, maybe Corot, or even Constable, they have the same kind of close looking that’s less about recording and more about an ongoing conversation with the world. Ultimately, the joy of art is in the looking and the making.