Dan Kosumi 2014

Gazmend Freitag made this drawing of Dan Kosumi with graphite on paper, and I'm really drawn to the way he's used the pencil to create a sense of volume and depth. It's like he's sculpting with the graphite, building up the tones to create a really convincing likeness. Look at the way he's handled the shadows around the eyes, and the subtle gradations on the face. You can see the pressure he's applied to the pencil, creating these darker areas and then easing off for the lighter highlights. The texture of the paper is also really important. It gives the drawing a kind of rough, unfinished quality that I find really appealing. I think of artists like Lucian Freud, who was also so good at capturing the human form in all its complexity. But where Freud was maybe more focused on psychological intensity, Freitag's drawing feels more gentle and compassionate. It's a reminder that art is always a conversation, with artists building on each other's ideas and techniques, even across time.