Pad in een landschap 1905 - 1910

Willem Cornelis Rip drew this landscape in pencil, quickly, on a small page in a sketchbook. Look at the bottom right, you can just make out his signature there. Rip must have been outside, trying to capture the essence of the road, the trees, and even the tower in the distance. I can imagine him outside, maybe it's a bit windy, and he’s got to hold the sketchbook steady with one hand. Rip probably wasn’t trying to make a finished picture, but something quick and provisional. I love the scrubby marks he used for the foliage. They're so alive! It reminds me that sketching is all about seeing and feeling. He's not trying to be tight or perfect, but gestural. More like a conversation with the landscape, where the artist responds to each new mark until the dialogue reaches a certain point, and then he moves on. Isn't that what we all do as artists?