Schip met een man aan het roer 1891 - 1941

Leo Gestel made this drawing, "Ship with a man at the helm," with chalk on paper, and it's all about the process, isn’t it? Look at how the chalk makes these soft, smudgy lines. It's like he's feeling his way around the forms, not trying to nail them down perfectly. The way the chalk is layered, thick in some spots and almost transparent in others, gives it this moody, almost dreamlike quality. There's a little boat near the bottom, like a quick thought, just a few dark lines that suggest more than they show. That little shape really captures the essence of a boat, doesn't it? Gestel reminds me of Marsden Hartley, another artist who wasn't afraid to let the process show, to let the hand be visible. Ultimately, it feels more about the act of seeing and drawing, than about the boat itself.