The Hamlet of Turello, Southern Italy 1932

M.C. Escher made this print of The Hamlet of Turello in Southern Italy, and what strikes me first is how he builds up the scene with these meticulous little marks. It’s like he’s not just drawing what he sees, but also how he understands the structure and texture of everything. The way he uses hatching to create depth and shadow is really something. Look at the stone wall on the left. Each tiny line adds to the sense of weight and solidity. Then there’s the contrast with the distant mountains, rendered with much finer, more delicate lines, which gives them this airy, almost dreamlike quality. Escher wasn't interested in showing us a photorealistic view of the world, he was building an atmosphere. There’s a kind of obsessive quality to it, and I'm fascinated by the way that other artists like Durer use the same kind of approach. It’s like they’re trying to capture the world in all its complexity, one tiny mark at a time. In the end, the conversations between artists become just as interesting as their artworks.