Staande vrouw c. 1915s - 1925s

Isaac Israels made this drawing of a standing woman with graphite on paper. It's a sketch, really just the bare bones of an idea, and I think that’s what's so appealing. Look at the way he captures the essence of the figure with such minimal lines. It’s all about the process of finding form, not constructing one. The quick, almost nervous marks that define the woman's form, they remind me of the kind of energy I try to get into my own work. There’s a raw immediacy here, a sense of being in the moment with the subject. The way the lines suggest the shape of her body, and then dissolve back into the paper, leaving everything open. It’s a gesture towards something, rather than a fixed statement. Think of artists like Degas, always working in charcoal and pastel, always revisiting and reworking the same motifs. Art as a verb, not a noun. It's always changing and moving.