Rembrandt, A clump of trees in a fenced enclosure

Rembrandt often took small sketchbooks with him on his travels, and this dynamic drawing was most likely done en plein air to identify a motif for later development. A notational visual vocabulary allowed him to record a subject with fluid economy, while also analysing its internal structure. The volumes of the trees’ boughs are described using repeated interlocking bands of horizontal, vertical and diagonal marks to stand for the foliage. The light hitting the foremost trees is articulated by leaving the negative space of the page blank, contrasting with the densely hatched shadows.