Wooden Figure c. 1936

Elmer G. Anderson made this watercolor painting of a wooden figure, and it’s a real testament to the beauty of art as process. I mean, you can almost feel him figuring out how to capture the texture and form of the wood with just washes of color. What strikes me is the way he plays with browns and grays, creating depth and shadow that give the figure such a tactile, almost sculptural quality. Look at the way the light hits the top hat, see how Anderson uses thin layers to build up the color gradually? You can see the ghost of earlier marks underneath, and I love that! It’s like he's whispering secrets about his process right there on the surface. This piece puts me in mind of the early work of Guston, before his big pink period, where he was using similar muted tones to explore form and texture. It’s like a quiet conversation across time, all about the magic of mark-making and the endless possibilities of paint!