Figuur op een zeilboot c. 1909s

This is Alexander Shilling's sketch of a figure on a sailboat, rapidly drawn with graphite or charcoal in a notebook. You can almost feel Shilling's hand moving across the page, capturing the scene in a flurry of quick, energetic lines. The drawing feels immediate and raw. Look at the way he’s handled the mast and sails – just a few lines, yet they convey so much about the boat's structure and movement. On the right-hand side of the page, there are denser marks, and here the artist seems to be finding his way into the image by feeling out the solidity of the boat. The horizon line is broken across the two pages, joining the composition together. Shilling was a contemporary of Matisse, and this work is a reminder that sketching is a vital part of the artistic process – a way of thinking through seeing and feeling. There’s a sense of freedom and experimentation, of not being afraid to make mistakes or leave things unresolved, something I try to bring to my own work. Art, for me, is more about the questions than the answers.