Untitled [seated female nude with foot on table and arms behind head] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this seated nude drawing with graphite on paper. It's all about the making for me, and I love how the tentative, searching lines here suggest a process of finding form rather than just describing it. The pencil marks are delicate, almost like whispers, but they build up to create a real sense of volume and weight. Look at the way he's captured the curve of the model's hip, or the angle of her foot resting on the table. There's a wonderful economy of line, but it still feels so full of life. That foot is amazing, a real study of foreshortening. It almost looks as if Diebenkorn is drawing around the form rather than filling it in, which makes it feel incredibly present. You can see the influence of Matisse in his work, especially in the way he simplifies and abstracts the figure. But Diebenkorn brings his own sensibility to it, a kind of West Coast coolness.