Dorpsgezicht met molens Possibly 1908

Alexander Shilling made this drawing of a village with windmills with graphite on paper. You know, looking at this sketch feels like catching a thought as it’s forming – it’s all about process. The marks are immediate, almost like the artist is thinking through the pencil, each line searching for the form. The texture is light, the paper barely kissed by the graphite, creating a sense of airiness. See how the strokes that make up the sky and the ground are parallel to each other? It’s not really about the thing itself, but how it feels to see it, all those soft horizontal lines create a sense of constant movement. Shilling’s work reminds me of Whistler, in the way he captures a mood more than a scene. Art isn’t about answers; it’s about how we keep the conversation going.