Silver Beakers c. 1936

Clayton Braun made this drawing of silver beakers, we don't know when or exactly with what, but it's all about the process. Look at how he built up the forms, one delicate pencil line at a time, as if he was coaxing the image into existence. The surface shimmers, doesn't it? Braun coaxes out the texture of the metal with subtle gradations of tone. Look closely and you'll see the light seems to catch the beaker, reflecting back at us. The decoration on the vessel has a quirky quality, with its little dragons and figures. There's a real sense of joy in the making, you can feel it in the exuberance of the lines. This reminds me of the drawings of Alfred Kubin, with their shared interest in the fantastic and the grotesque. Both artists use line to create worlds that are both familiar and strange, inviting us to lose ourselves in the act of looking. And isn't that what art is all about?