Woman in black evening dress 1901

Charles Dana Gibson made this drawing of a woman in a black dress with ink on paper. I'm immediately drawn to how Gibson coaxes so much volume out of simple hatching. Looking at this drawing, I can imagine him, pen in hand, scratching away, trying to capture the way the light falls on the fabric. You know, how the ink pools in the shadows, creating a sense of depth? It’s like he’s building up the form with these tiny little marks, almost like he’s sculpting with ink. I love how the marks seem to suggest movement, almost as if the dress is swirling around her. It reminds me a little of those old master drawings, where artists would use cross-hatching to create a sense of three-dimensionality. But Gibson’s got a looser touch, a kind of spontaneity that feels really modern. It's like he's saying, "I'm not trying to be perfect, I'm just trying to capture the feeling of this moment." And that, to me, is what art is all about.