Nieuwe Kerk te Amsterdam, gezien vanaf de Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal c. 1903

George Hendrik Breitner made this sketch of Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam with graphite, working directly in a sketchbook. Imagine him standing there, maybe a bit cold, quickly capturing the imposing architecture before him! You can almost feel the urgency in the marks, the way the lines vary in pressure and weight. See how the vertical lines suggest the height of the church, while the horizontal strokes anchor it to the ground. It's a study in contrasts, really. The softness of the graphite against the rigid structure, the quickness of the sketch versus the timelessness of the building. I bet Breitner was thinking about light and shadow, about how to convey the essence of a place with just a few strokes. It reminds me of some of my own sketches, where I'm just trying to grab a feeling or an impression before it disappears. Artists, we're all just trying to figure things out together, across time, inspiring each other to see the world in new ways.