Sewing Bird c. 1938

Frank McEntee made this study of a "Sewing Bird", the object is 4 1/2" high; 1 1/2" wide. I can imagine him carefully observing this thing. It is drawn in a pale, limited palette, with lots of soft grays, and blacks. I wonder what was McEntee thinking about the object as he painted it, as he labored over it? The drawing seems to emerge slowly, as he felt his way through the form. He is not tracing an outline, but building up structure from inside out. I can almost imagine how he kept going, shifting the perspective ever so slightly, to get it just right. He made these lines to convey the feeling of weight, the volume, the objectness. I think he might have liked how it had multiple parts and how they fitted together. The whole thing looks like a puzzle but, more than that, this drawing shows the artist's care and attention in a quiet kind of conversation. It shows the artist's love of objects.