Drie figuren aan een waterkant, mogelijk de Zuidkolk te Delft 1907

Willem Cornelis Rip made this small sketch, possibly of the Zuidkolk in Delft, with graphite on paper. I like the intimacy of sketchbooks. Artists, like Rip, use them to record observations, but also ideas that come from a more internal place. It's like the artist is thinking aloud on paper. What was he thinking as he rendered these figures at the water's edge? Look how the artist suggests the movement of the water with quick, light strokes, and then anchors the scene with the solid forms of the figures and boats. I can feel the artist searching for the right lines to capture the scene before him, which is how the sketch retains a sense of immediacy. I like to imagine Rip flipping through the pages of his sketchbook, coming across this sketch years later, remembering the moment he created it, and being inspired anew. The conversation between artists across time is beautiful. Each artist borrows, builds upon, and transforms the ideas of those who came before.