Skitser af dyreskeletter 1864 - 1941

Niels Larsen Stevns made these sketches of animal skeletons with graphite on paper. Looking at it, it reminds me that drawing is all about seeing, about trying to understand the structure underneath. The texture of the paper itself feels important here, doesn't it? The tooth of the paper grabs the graphite, leaving these broken, stuttering lines. Notice how the artist hasn't tried to hide any of the marks. It’s like they're thinking out loud, correcting lines, adding shadows, and figuring out the forms as they go. See the way the lines around the eye sockets are smudged and reworked? You can almost feel the artist squinting, trying to capture the subtle curves. It reminds me of Giacometti, his endless searching lines, always trying to nail the essence of a form. It’s not about perfection, but about the process of trying to see.