Diary Painting #28 - Clouds and 4 Circles (Detail) 1973

Robert Huot made this ‘Diary Painting #28 - Clouds and 4 Circles (Detail)’ with loose, playful marks, and a muted, yet bold palette. It’s all about the process. The surface is raw; you can see the history of each gesture. Look at the way the black paint at the bottom is scrubbed into the canvas, building this intense, almost violent texture, like a storm raging at the bottom of the picture. Above, the figure is rendered with transparent layers of grey and black lines, while the bright orange squiggles seem to dance on the surface. The composition feels precarious, open. There are echoes of Twombly in the scrappy lines and the way the colours pop. Huot and Twombly both show us that art isn't about perfection, it's about embracing the messy, the imperfect, and the beautiful accidents that happen along the way.