Portrait 1950

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this portrait with what looks like pencil, and the repeated mark-making feels methodical. The evenness of the hatching creates a kind of shimmering effect around the figure. Looking at the gradations of tone, from the subtle shadows on her face to the darker areas framing her head, I get a real sense of the artist building up the image, layer by layer. See how the lines around her jaw are more defined, giving her face structure? I love the way the hair is described with these flowing, almost scribbled lines, a real contrast to the more precise work on the face. That sense of a thinking, feeling hand at work reminds me a little of some of the drawings of Käthe Kollwitz. Both artists share a similar sensitivity, and an understanding that a drawing is not just a representation, but an intimate record of a process. It's this openness to the unpredictable nature of drawing that gives the work its power, leaving space for us to bring our own feelings and interpretations to the piece.