Twee figuren in de duinen Possibly 1908

Alexander Shilling made this graphite drawing, “Two Figures in the Dunes,” using hatching and cross-hatching, like he was almost knitting the image together. I can imagine him working en plein air, wrestling with the wind and shifting sands. It’s just graphite on paper, but look how dense he makes the darks! I bet he was thinking about the weather, or maybe two people he saw walking. Maybe he saw a big metaphor in those tiny figures walking along that horizon line! I love the way the graphite marks build up, becoming almost like a storm cloud. He’s using line to suggest volume and depth. It reminds me of some of the quick sketches that Constable made of clouds, capturing a fleeting moment. Artists have always looked to each other, you know? We are constantly exchanging and building on each other’s ways of seeing and mark-making. Looking at a drawing like this, I feel part of that long conversation.