The Royal Palace, Madrid c. 1903

"The Royal Palace, Madrid" was made with a crayon by Joseph Pennell, and the marks feel like they were built up layer upon layer, like a sculptor might work with clay. The texture is built entirely from these marks, it’s all crayon on paper, but Pennell coaxes the surface into something that feels almost three-dimensional. Look at the sky, it's pure drama, right? The crayon strokes swirl and dive, giving the clouds a sense of movement, like they’re about to burst open. The way he renders the trees in the foreground, you can almost feel the weight of the leaves, the density of the branches. It’s not just about depicting a scene, it’s about capturing an atmosphere, a feeling. There's something here that reminds me of Whistler, an artist who looked at landscape in a similar way, finding new ways to see it. But Pennell brings his own sensibility, his own kind of searching. And it’s that search, that willingness to play with the materials, that makes this piece so compelling.