IJs 1972

Rein Dool made this drawing, titled 'IJs', with ink on paper. I love how the figures seem almost carved out of the blank page, as if Dool was negotiating negative space, letting the drawing emerge bit by bit. Just imagine him, poised with his pen, building up the figures line by line. The image depicts two people eating ice cream – a figure on the left, perhaps a father, and a child on the right – both staring upwards, their tongues out in anticipation. The sketchy, almost frantic lines give a sense of urgency, as if the ice cream is about to melt, and they need to eat it quickly. It's a simple scene, but so full of life and movement. It reminds me of the drawings of Philip Guston; that same kind of playful energy, the feeling that the artist is just having fun and working things out as he goes. Painting and drawing are like conversations, and in this drawing, Dool is definitely saying something.