Koe en koeienkop 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing of a cow and cow's head with pencil on paper. Those bold, sweeping lines! It feels like Gestel was really thinking through drawing, trying to capture the essence of these cows with as few strokes as possible. I can almost feel the scratch of the pencil on the page, the artist's hand moving quickly, confidently. Look at how he defines the shapes with these powerful marks, building the form from the outside in. I wonder what Gestel was thinking about when he made this? Was he interested in the play of light and shadow on the cows’ bodies, or was he more focused on capturing their overall presence, their weight and volume? It's a reminder that drawing is not just about observation, but also about feeling and intuition. Artists are always in conversation with each other, building on each other’s ideas and approaches. Each mark they make is both an ending and a beginning, a question and an answer.