Portrait of Kirill Zdanevich with a rabbit 1916

Zygmunt Waliszewski made this sketch of Kirill Zdanevich with a rabbit using pencil on paper. It’s all about the line, isn’t it? See how the marks vary in weight, dancing between quick, light suggestions and bolder, more descriptive strokes. It's like the artist is thinking aloud, figuring out the form as he goes. I love how the pencil work brings a certain physicality to the forefront. You can almost feel the pressure of the artist's hand, the scratch of graphite on paper. Look at the way he's rendered the boots, all angles and volume, versus the softer, almost tentative lines around the rabbit, curled up at the bottom. The hatching creates depth and shadow, but it also makes the image feel immediate, alive. Waliszewski reminds me a bit of Egon Schiele. Both artists had a way of capturing the raw energy of a moment. It’s art as a conversation, an ongoing exploration. It's never really finished, just paused for a moment.