Deer Hunters c. 1930

Velino Shije Herrera painted "Deer Hunters," on paper, and wow, what a sense of movement! The horses and deer aren't just standing there; they're caught in mid-stride, all energy and flow, the artist is totally embracing the act of image making as a process. The colors are so simple, and that bare background makes the whole scene feel kind of dreamy, like a memory or a story being told. Look at the way Herrera uses line to define the shapes, especially the horses' legs. Those lines aren't fussy, they're confident and direct, giving the animals a real sense of life and purpose. The riders in their yellow ochre shawls, seem focused on the hunt, creating this rhythm that pulls you right into the action. There's a kind of timelessness in Herrera’s work that reminds me of early Italian Renaissance paintings, with their flat planes and simplified forms. But with a totally different story. Art’s just a big conversation across time, isn’t it? And it’s never really finished.