Baby's Bonnet c. 1939

Richard Whitaker made this pencil drawing of a Baby's Bonnet, we don't know exactly when, but we do know he lived a long life, from 1855 to 1995. The drawing is a humble study of the folds in a piece of fabric. Look at the way each individual pleat is recorded with such painstaking detail. The soft grey pencil is worked in layers, building up the form and volume of the bonnet with subtle tonal variations. See how the lines curve and converge, creating a sense of depth and texture? It's almost sculptural. If you follow the lines, you might notice that they wiggle a little bit, deviating from a perfect, mechanical smoothness. These give the piece a unique feel, a sign of the hand, the eye, and the mind all working together. Someone like Agnes Martin comes to mind, another artist who elevated simple, repetitive marks into something transcendent. Both show us how much can be achieved with seemingly limited means. It's a reminder that art isn't about grand gestures, it’s about the quiet, persistent act of looking and responding.