Judge Oscar O. Death c. 1938

James McLellan made this drawing, Judge Oscar O. Death, with graphite and watercolor, and the palette is refreshingly gloomy! McLellan gets right in there with the process, letting the black puddle and bloom around the hard-edged, almost mechanical looking skeleton. I’m really taken by the texture of that black robe. It's like he’s conjuring drapery from nothing, or maybe from the darkest depths of his imagination. Look closely and you'll see how the graphite and watercolor create a shimmering, almost liquid effect. There's such a tension between the rigid structure of the skeleton and the fluidity of the robe, it gives the piece a real sense of life – or should I say, death? There's something about the directness of McLellan's vision that reminds me of outsider art, like Henry Darger. Both artists have this incredible ability to create worlds that are both deeply personal and universally resonant. Maybe art isn’t about answers, but about creating a space for us to ask questions.