Dog Track, Sanford 1938

Ralston Crawford made this work, "Dog Track, Sanford" in 1938, using ink and gouache on paper. I love the confident lines, especially the way they define space without fully enclosing it. There's this great push and pull between what's there and what's implied, making you feel like you're right there at the dog track. Crawford's handling of the ink is just so playful. The lines are bold and direct, but then you notice these little imperfections, these moments where the ink bleeds or the line wavers slightly. It’s almost as if he has scribbled a dark frame around the image. He’s unafraid to let the process show, and that's what makes it so engaging. Look how he uses white gouache to create a layered surface, scraping it on to reveal the texture beneath. You see this influence of industrial scenes also in the work of Charles Demuth and Charles Sheeler, though Crawford’s work stands out for its distinctive style. In art, there is always more than one way of thinking, and I like that.