Untitled [standing female nude with right arm behind back] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this pencil sketch of a standing female nude, we don’t know exactly when. The beauty of a drawing like this lies in its directness. With just a few lines, Diebenkorn captures the essence of the figure, the way the weight shifts, the curve of the spine. It’s like he's thinking aloud with the pencil. Look closely and you'll notice the lines aren’t perfect, they’re tentative, searching. See how he’s built up the form with layers of marks, adjusting and refining as he goes? It reminds me of my own process in painting, that constant back-and-forth between intention and accident. Notice how the negative space around the figure is almost as important as the figure itself, creating a sense of air and light. There's a raw honesty to Diebenkorn’s work, like a conversation between the artist and the subject. For me, he is an artist in the tradition of Matisse, exploring the simple beauty of everyday life, and showing us that art is an ongoing process of discovery.