Bootjack 1935 - 1942

This is Amos C. Brinton’s ‘Bootjack’, a drawing made with, what looks like, graphite and watercolor on paper. It’s cool how he’s used a limited palette of warm browns, almost like sepia tones, to create a sense of depth and dimension, right? The surface has this smooth, almost matte finish, which makes you wonder about the paper he chose. There are so many lovely details, for example, the way the light catches on the curved edges of the metal, casting soft shadows, or how the artist carefully rendered the openwork design. This level of detail reminds me of some of the early American folk artists like Joseph Warren Lehn. The Bootjack’s simple, utilitarian beauty is something to admire, and like all good art, it gives us permission to find our own way into the image, leaving room for ambiguity and interpretation.