Illustrations for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill" 1956

This illustration for Mikhail Stelmakh's book "In the Hedgehog's Windmill" by Hryhorii Havrylenko looks like it was made with ink, and maybe some kind of wash, on paper. The image is all about lines, hatching marks really. The lines are used to describe a figure carrying a child, seems like an older man with a young girl perched on his shoulders, out for a walk in the countryside, and these lines work together to create a sense of depth and texture. Look at the man's trousers, for instance, the repeated vertical lines create a pattern, but also give a real sense of the material. The marks are applied with a real freedom and energy, nothing is too precious here, just direct and expressive. Look how the child is almost dissolved into the figure, in a way this image reminds me of the work of Käthe Kollwitz, where figures are similarly rendered with a sense of deep feeling. It is a good example of how the simplest means can be used to convey the most profound ideas.