The Moon and her Mother 1912

Arthur Rackham made this drawing, The Moon and her Mother, with ink and watercolor on paper. I just love how Rackham understood that artmaking is a process of world-making. Look at the figure of the mother and the way her face is drawn. It's all scribbly lines, right? It's not trying to create a perfect picture, it’s about getting at the essence of the character, the wrinkles and age. The scratchy quality of the lines, they almost look like they were made by a very fine ballpoint. You can see the quickness of the hand. And then there's the moon child, so eager and bright, reaching out, it is a totally dreamy take. Rackham reminds me of other illustrators like Aubrey Beardsley, but he also is very much his own thing. In Rackham's work, things are always morphing, shifting, and escaping any single meaning.