Vrouw die een keu krijt c. 1890 - 1920

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a woman chalking a cue, sometime in his career, with what looks like a graphite stick on paper. You can really see the artistic process at work here. It’s all about the line. Look at how the texture of the woman's dress is created with these simple, parallel marks; like shorthand for fabric. Then see how that compares to the scribbled, darker marks describing her arms and hands, it’s like he’s feeling his way into the form. It’s a great contrast to the way the more solid and definite lines describe the pool cue itself. It reminds me of the work of Degas, particularly his pastels of dancers, catching a moment in time, with a few deft marks. It’s this sense of the artist thinking on paper that really makes it sing. This is what drawing is all about: thinking, feeling and seeing all at once.