The Walled City 1912

Joseph Pennell made this drawing called The Walled City with graphite, I’m guessing, or maybe charcoal. I love to imagine the artist standing there, feeling small against this grand vista. The canyon walls rise up, solid dark masses against the sky. But what really grabs me is the light, like some divine spotlight illuminating the geological layers. You can almost feel the rain coming down. There's a lot of texture, achieved by the hatching and cross-hatching. Pennell uses these marks to build up the darkness, to model the rocks, and suggest the sheer scale of the landscape. Did he draw quickly, trying to capture the light before it changed? Or slowly, meticulously building up the form? It feels immediate and timeless at the same time. The image is a reminder that we are all connected. It is a visual poem about the world.