Hooiberg in een weiland 1907

Willem Cornelis Rip made this sketch of a hay bale in a field using graphite on paper. It's a quick study, the kind of thing you might do to capture a fleeting moment, and I find myself drawn to the dark, almost frantic marks that make up the sky. Looking closely, you can see how the texture of the paper comes through, giving the drawing a sense of immediacy. The marks are loose and gestural, especially in the foreground, evoking a sense of wind and movement. Notice how the artist uses hatching and cross-hatching to build up tone and volume, particularly in the hay bale itself. It is a simple subject, but the artist is attentive to the tonal contrasts in the landscape. This sketch reminds me a little of the work of Jacob Maris, another Dutch artist who was interested in capturing the atmosphere of the landscape, and like Maris, Rip embraces the ephemeral quality of light and weather.