Powder Flask c. 1939

This drawing of a Powder Flask was created by Robert W.R. Taylor, and I reckon he was trying to get his head around form, and surface, and how to render things with light. I wonder what it was like to stand at the easel trying to get those metallic effects down. All those leaves twisting around and the little deer head, like a heraldic crest, sitting right at the top. It's all these slightly weird details of representation that catch my eye. The leaves are rendered with a sort of depth, but they also become a kind of all-over pattern, just through the act of trying to describe them. I can feel him thinking, how do I make this flat surface pop? How do I make this thing look like it's made of metal? And that's how painting becomes this way of inquiring, of seeing the world. I'm thinking of other painters, of course, because that's what we do; we're always in conversation with each other. There's something about this intense looking that makes me want to go back to my studio and paint.