Kop van een muilezel te Tanger 1902

Jac van Looij made this quick sketch of a mule’s head in Tangier, using what looks like a regular graphite pencil on paper. The surface is built from a series of hatched lines laid down at different angles. This gives the image depth and volume while also keeping it open and airy. You can feel the artist working through the forms, adjusting the lines to capture the animal's likeness. Look at the way the lines around the mule's neck are more vertical and compressed, suggesting the powerful musculature, in contrast, the lines across the cheek and jaw are softer and more diffuse, conveying the animal's gentleness. Van Looij was clearly influenced by the Dutch masters and especially the animal studies of someone like Paulus Potter. Both artists share an interest in the quiet dignity of ordinary animals. But Van Looij's sketch also feels very contemporary, his interest in the process, in the act of seeing and recording, is a reminder that art is as much about the journey as it is about the destination.