Meisje schrikt van hond en kinderen in een landschap 1870 - 1937

This pen and ink drawing from the Rijksmuseum titled 'Meisje schrikt van hond en kinderen in een landschap' is by an anonymous artist, and you can see it depicts a kind of double scene. On one side, a girl seems startled by a dog jumping up at her in a wooded area. Look at the fine lines, how they create texture and movement! I imagine the artist carefully etching each stroke, deciding where to add depth and shadow. What might they have been thinking about as they rendered this moment of surprise? Does it echo something of their own life, or maybe a story they once heard? And then, on the other side of the page, there's another little vignette of children playing in the snow! It's like a memory or a little story unfolding, with the two sides being in conversation with one another. We, as artists, are all in this ongoing conversation. We inspire each other, bounce ideas around, and build on what came before. Painting or drawing becomes this embodied expression, which embraces ambiguity and uncertainty. It allows for endless readings, as each of us sees something different in those strokes, lines, and compositions!