Isabel Bishop Early Sketchbook c. 1928 - 1936

This sketchbook page is by Isabel Bishop, and it's all about capturing fleeting moments with a quick, responsive line. Look at how she's using a simple pencil to map out these figures, not fussing over detail, but really getting the essence of their stance, their weight. What's striking is the directness of the mark making, almost like she’s thinking aloud on paper. See how some lines are darker, more emphatic, while others are barely there, just whispers. In the bottom left, there's a cluster of figures huddled together, rendered with this intense scribbling that creates a sense of movement and energy. It’s like she’s not just drawing what she sees, but also the feeling of being in a crowd, the buzz and blur of urban life. Bishop reminds me of Degas, with her interest in everyday life and the human form, but there's also something uniquely her own in the way she embraces the unfinished, the provisional. Art isn't about answers, it’s about the questions we ask along the way.