Weather Vane c. 1937

Herman Bader made this Weather Vane drawing, with graphite on paper. I wonder how long it took him to make this drawing? It's a simple drawing of a rooster. But the rendering is so sensitive and textured—it's amazing. The surface has all these tiny marks, like he's trying to capture the gritty, weathered feel of the actual vane. I can imagine him staring intently at the vane, translating its three-dimensional form into a flat image, one mark at a time. Drawing something already existing can be more difficult than making something up. It's like you have to really *see* it, absorb it, and then let your hand become an extension of your eye.