Illustrations for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill" 1956

Hryhorii Havrylenko made these illustrations for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill" using a simple monochromatic palette, all about the purity of form. It feels like the kind of drawing you might do while daydreaming. Look at how he captures the weight of the watermelon with just a few strokes, or the delicate rendering of the flowers. These aren't overworked, fussy drawings, but economical, lively sketches that capture the essence of the scene. Havrylenko's mark-making is direct and playful, almost like a child's drawing, but with a keen understanding of composition and form. You sense the story is as much in the process of drawing as in the images themselves. This reminds me of some of Picasso's line drawings, where he could conjure a bull or a dancer with just a few confident lines. It’s this economy of means, this knowing when to stop, that really makes these illustrations sing.