The Librarian 1930

This image from 1930, by Martin Petersen, captures a librarian amongst his books with ink on paper. Look at the way the Petersen uses line, hatching, and cross-hatching, to describe form and volume. It's all about building up layers, right? You can almost feel the scratching of the pen, the build-up of the image, mark by mark. There's an incredible density in the stacks of books, contrasted with the more open areas like the librarian's face. I find myself drawn to the lines that describe his suit - those diagonal strokes create a sense of movement, almost like he's caught in a moment of thought. The physicality of the medium really comes through. It's not about illusionism, but about the process, the making. You get a real sense of Petersen’s hand and the choices he made along the way. It reminds me a bit of the work of Käthe Kollwitz, that same intensity of line and focus on the human figure. Both artists embrace the imperfections and accidents that happen in the making, turning them into something beautiful and raw.