Untitled [seated nude resting her head upon her right hand] [verso] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing with pencil and crayon, and you can see him thinking, feeling, and looking all at once. It's like he’s trying to find the form, not just copy it. The lines are searching, sometimes bold, sometimes light, as he captures the pose of a seated nude. I can imagine him stepping back, squinting, then leaning in close again to mark the page. Did he have to work hard to capture the model’s languid pose? The lines feel confident, but the smudges suggest he reworked the hand resting on her knee. It's hard to get hands right! Diebenkorn's drawing feels very immediate. He leaves evidence of the process, so you can see the pentimenti of the composition. Like, he changed his mind. This reminds me how all artists are in a constant state of dialogue, building on each other’s visions across time. It shows that there is more than one way of seeing or saying one thing.