Studie af ørn med delvist og helt udstrakte vinger 1864 - 1941

Niels Larsen Stevns made this study of an eagle's wings with graphite on paper, and what grabs me is the sheer energy in these lines. You can almost feel the scratching of the graphite as he's figuring out the form. The texture of the paper itself is part of the story here, see how the weave shows through, giving it a kind of depth. Look at the lines defining the lower body of the bird. They're quick, decisive, and evoke volume with just a few strokes. It's this tension between precision and looseness that makes it so engaging. Stevns reminds me a little of someone like Delacroix, who was also obsessed with capturing the raw power of animals in motion. But while Delacroix went for drama, Stevns is after something more intimate, a quiet observation of nature's forms, a study in flight. It's about the process, the thinking through drawing.