1652
chalk
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Sheep is a 1652 chalk by Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem, a Baroque work, depicting Sheep, held at National Gallery of Art.
This drawing shows sheep in a field using black and red chalk. The artist used chalk to sketch the animals with quick, loose lines. You can almost feel the soft wool and warm sunlight in the marks. Berchem often drew animals outdoors. His sketches feel alive because of the way light hits the sheep’s backs. The red chalk adds a warm glow that black chalk alone wouldn’t give. Check out another artist who loved light and animals. Look up Berchem, Nicolaes Pietersz.
Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 – 18 February 1683) was a highly esteemed and prolific Dutch Golden Age painter of pastoral landscapes, populated with mythological or biblical figures, but also of a number of allegories and genre pieces.
See the richer artist page
