Vrouwenhoofd met sigaret 1887 - 1934

Isaac Israels made this quick, intimate drawing, "Vrouwenhoofd met sigaret", with what looks like charcoal and watercolor. Israels seems less interested in perfection and more into the act of looking. It's like he’s trying to catch a fleeting moment. Check out how Israels uses charcoal, smudging and hatching to create the woman's hair. It’s a dark, almost brooding mass, contrasting with the lightness of her face. Then, there are these almost translucent washes of watercolor that hint at her skin. Notice how he uses line to define the planes of her face. It’s a series of quick, confident strokes. I really love the energy and confidence in these marks. It reminds me a bit of Toulouse-Lautrec, especially his drawings of performers and people in cafes. Both artists capture the spirit of their subjects with a kind of raw, immediate honesty. Art's not about fixed answers, right? It's more about opening up questions, sparking curiosity, and keeping the conversation going.