Male Nude- Academic Study 1787

This drawing was made by Benjamin West, sometime around 1767, with graphite on paper. The material itself, graphite, is key here. It wasn't yet mass-produced in pencil form, but was available as sticks of raw material. West would have used this to build up tone and shadow on the page, establishing the muscular form of the male model. The act of drawing from life, also known as ‘academic study,’ was a foundational exercise for artists at the time. By focusing on a subject that’s both immediate and timeless, artists were taught to see the human form and how to represent it. The material and the method are one, informing West's perception of how bodies exist in space. Notice how the tonal gradations lend three-dimensionality to the figure. Graphite is a relatively modest material, but in West's skilled hands, it becomes something more. The drawing is elevated from study to a work of art in its own right.