The Boat Builders 1917

Joseph Pennell made this drawing of boat builders, using pencil, ink, or maybe charcoal. Look at the sheer number of lines Pennell used here. A whole mess of them, really. You know when you’re drawing, and you don’t want to take your pen off the page? It's like that. The image emerges from a web of marks, a kind of frenetic energy. You can almost hear the clatter and bang of the construction site! I wonder, was Pennell interested in the final boats? Or was it more the angles of the wooden frames, and the back and forth of the workers? There’s something so appealing in the geometry, the complex arrangement of lines, and the way he captures the activity of these men. This drawing feels so alive, doesn’t it? As a painter, I’m in awe of anyone who can make something feel so vital and energetic. Drawing and painting: it's all just a bunch of marks! We're all just adding to a big conversation across time.