De molenaar, zijn zoon en de ezel 1894 - 1959

"De molenaar, zijn zoon en de ezel" is a comic strip made with ink and watercolour. I love how the artist uses a limited palette of muted earth tones, punctuated by small areas of stronger hues. The story unfolds through a series of sequential images, like a storyboard for a film. The lines are crisp and clear, with only slight variations in width, and the colours are applied in flat, thin washes. The texture of the paper remains visible, lending a sense of immediacy to the scene. I'm drawn to the donkey, it is at the centre of each frame like a character in a play, and the variations in its posture and expression capture the spirit of the narrative. This piece reminds me of the work of Honoré Daumier, in the way it uses visual storytelling to explore the foibles of human nature. Like all great art, it encourages us to see the world in new and unexpected ways.