Untitled [head of a woman looking down in three-quarter view] 1955 - 1967

Here’s an untitled sketch of a woman, head down, made with pencil on paper by Richard Diebenkorn. The beauty of this piece lies in its simplicity. The visible pencil lines remind us of the artmaking process, it's not about perfection but about exploration. Notice how the marks around her face are tentative, searching, while the lines defining her nose and mouth are more assertive. It's like Diebenkorn is feeling his way through the portrait, capturing not just her likeness but also a sense of introspection. The tone of the paper adds a warmth to the cool lines, making the whole thing feel intimate. A lot like the work of David Park, he also combined a real understanding of abstraction with a desire to create a kind of figurative language. It's this combination of abstraction and figuration that makes his work so compelling. It's a conversation, an ongoing exploration of seeing and feeling.