Zeil- en roeiboten op het water 1914 - 1916

Willem Cornelis Rip made this drawing of sailboats and rowboats on water with graphite, probably en plein air, capturing a fleeting moment. The marks are light, quick, a bit like capturing a memory or a feeling. Look how the texture of the paper comes through. It’s part of the drawing, like the air in a landscape. The artist uses short, broken lines to suggest the movement of the water and the shapes of the boats. See that darker cluster of marks in the center? It anchors the composition, but it's also unresolved, open. The whole thing has a lovely, unfinished quality. It reminds me a bit of some drawings by Boudin, the way he captured the light on the water with such simple means. It’s a reminder that art isn’t always about perfection; sometimes, it’s about the beauty of the imperfect and the unfinished, like a sketch in a journal, a moment captured and then let go.