Plantestudie 1906 - 1910

This ink drawing of plants was made by Niels Larsen Stevns sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. Look at the way Stevns uses these repetitive, scratchy lines to suggest light and shadow. Can you imagine him with his sketchbook outside somewhere, quickly trying to capture the essence of these plants? I think drawing like this is like thinking out loud. It seems like he's really focused on the texture, that the edges of the leaves become almost like tiny teeth. He’s simplifying the forms but also amplifying their character. It is like you could imagine these plants talking to each other. I think of artists like Van Gogh who also found so much energy and emotion in natural forms. There is an ongoing conversation that way, isn't there? We’re all just trying to figure out how to see and feel and then get that down on paper, or canvas, or whatever.