Silver Mug c. 1938

Aaron Fastovsky made this drawing of a silver mug at an unknown date. It's all soft greys and silvers, done with graphite on paper, I imagine, judging by the smooth gradations. You know, drawing something so... ordinary, can be a real challenge. How do you make it interesting? How do you get past just copying what's there? I bet Fastovsky was thinking about that, too. He probably started with the basic shapes, and then slowly, slowly built up the tones, layer after layer, to capture that metallic gleam, the way the light hits the curves. Look closely, and you can almost feel the coolness of the metal. He uses these lines to suggest the light, but also the volume. It's a quiet kind of looking, a still life asking us to stop and really see the world. And hey, that's what drawing is all about, right? A conversation between the artist and the everyday, each inspiring new ways of seeing.