Vos in monnikspij (Reinaert) aan voeten van leeuw (Nobel) en leeuwin (Gentel), temidden van andere dieren c. 1910

Bernard Willem Wierink made this illustration, "Vos in monnikspij (Reinaert) aan voeten van leeuw (Nobel) en leeuwin (Gentel), temidden van andere dieren", with pen and ink and watercolor. It’s all about the line, see how it defines every animal, and those funny little circles behind the lion, like speech bubbles without words? It's charming. I love the way the watercolor washes over the ink, it feels like a map, with different territories of tone and texture. Look closely at the lion’s mane – it’s a flurry of tiny strokes, giving it this wild, untamed energy, but then everything is so carefully, meticulously placed. It's a contrast between precision and freedom that gives the image its charge. Wierink reminds me of Aubrey Beardsley, with his love of line and the grotesque. But where Beardsley is all dark and decadent, Wierink has this folksy, almost innocent quality. It makes you wonder, what kind of stories was he trying to tell?