Studie van vier boomstammen 1872 - 1939

Egbert Schaap made this study of four tree trunks on paper using pencil. What's striking is how the shadows, created with these little hatched marks, give the trees real weight. You can almost feel the rough texture of the bark. I love the way Schaap isn’t trying to hide his process. Each stroke is visible, building up the form of the trees and the ground around them. Look closely at the base of the trunks. See how the pencil lines go every which way, capturing the tangled mess of roots and fallen leaves? It’s like he’s feeling his way through the scene, letting the pencil lead him. Schaap's work reminds me of Cezanne’s landscapes, in that both share a similar interest in breaking down a scene into its most basic forms. It's this honest, searching quality that makes it so appealing.