Werkers op het land met korenschoven 1925 - 1927

Leo Gestel made this drawing with pencil on paper. I just love the quick, sketchy nature of this piece; you can feel the artist trying to capture a fleeting moment. The figures, hunched over their work in the fields, are rendered with such immediacy. I can almost feel the rough texture of the paper beneath the pencil, the give and take as Gestel coaxes form from the blank surface. There's a real sense of empathy here, a connection to the laborers and the land. It’s all about process, and those marks are what give the piece its energy and life. It makes me think about other artists who've found beauty in the everyday, like Van Gogh, or Millet. They're all part of this big conversation, bouncing ideas off each other across time. I think that, ultimately, it’s about trusting your instincts and embracing the unexpected turns along the way. It’s about allowing the painting to lead you, rather than the other way around.