Stephen, R. Ayling

Stephen Ayling spent his days sketching in the shadowy corners of London’s old bookshops, where the scent of paper and damp stone seeped into his drawings. He preferred the quick, nervous line of a pencil to polished finishes, leaving his figures half-formed, as if caught mid-thought. If you like the raw edges of Edgar Degas’ dancers, try Ayling’s 1886 Untitled drawing—it’s a tangle of lines that still feels alive.