Girl 1913

Nicholas Roerich made this drawing, Girl, with watercolor and gouache, and it's like a dream, right? The colors, the shapes, they’re not quite real, but they have this deep emotional resonance. Roerich lays down the color thinly and lets it do its thing. See how the blue bleeds into the gold of her dress? It’s all about the surface, and the way the colors interact. The figure is outlined in a way that isn’t quite precise, which lends the piece an aura of something recalled from memory. Those dark lines really make it pop, don’t they? The red accents, too, are jewel-like against the other colours. It almost feels like he’s inviting us into a world that’s just a little bit off-kilter. Thinking about other artists, I'm reminded of Kandinsky and his use of color as a form of emotional expression. I’d love to know what you think; there are no wrong answers.