Girl's Dress c. 1940

This drawing of a Girl's Dress was made by Nancy Crimi, and it looks like she used watercolor and graphite. The graphite might be just a preliminary sketch, to get a sense of the structure, which she then elaborates on with these watery colors. I like how she uses a pale palette, mostly greys and creams with these little paisley details in pink and yellow. They feel a little like afterthoughts, maybe it was a way for her to embellish and vary the design. It reminds me that the act of making art is like a conversation, where you don’t always know where it’s going, but you’re responding to the materials and the marks you've already made on the page. There’s something very humble and gentle about the work and the way that she has depicted this design. I think of artists like Forrest Bess, with his almost manic approach to painting, or maybe Hilma af Klint, who also worked with these soft, muted tones. It’s interesting to me how these artists approach color in ways that are unexpected, like they’re breaking away from conventional ideas.