Untitled [seated female nude with one arm raised and one down] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this untitled sketch of a seated nude with graphite on paper. There’s a really lovely quality to Diebenkorn’s mark-making – quick and searching, a constant re-evaluation. I can imagine him circling around the form, trying to pin down the weight of the figure with a web of lines. The hatching feels almost impatient, as though he’s eager to capture the essence of the pose before it shifts or fades from his mind. Think about the confidence it takes to leave those erasures visible. The pressure on the graphite varies; it gets darker around the thighs to give a sense of volume, and lighter as it traces the raised arm. You can almost feel the energy of his hand moving across the page. It reminds me of other artists who use drawing to feel their way through a subject, like de Kooning or Guston. It’s that feeling of direct, uncensored expression that I find so compelling. Ultimately, this sketch is a reminder that art is not about perfection, but about the process of seeing and responding.