Chapeau de paille noir garni de plumes. 1919

This page from the Almanach de Mode features a woman wearing a “Chapeau de paille noir garni de plumes”—a black straw hat adorned with feathers. I wonder what kind of brush they used to create this, or perhaps it's not a brush at all, but a carefully sharpened implement. Imagine the artist delicately outlining the figure with a fine nib, pausing to consider the interplay of light and shadow on the hat’s surface. It seems that the artist was thinking about line, and how thin lines can work to create an image. I love the way they used cross hatching to give volume and depth to the black hat. It reminds me of a similar approach used by fashion illustrators. The way artists borrow and build upon each other's ideas across time makes me think about the conversations between artists. Each gesture, each choice of color, is like a response to what came before, a contribution to the ongoing dialogue of art.