Female image 1975

This is a drawing of a woman's face by Hryhorii Havrylenko, and it's really interesting. Just look at those lines! They’re not trying to trick you into thinking this is a photograph, right? Instead, they suggest a face, catching light on skin. It's like Havrylenko is thinking out loud with his pencil, going back and forth, finding the form. I imagine him circling the eyes again and again, trying to capture that look of gentle intensity. Maybe he was thinking about other artists who drew portraits, like Käthe Kollwitz, and the way she used line to convey deep emotion. We are all standing on each other's shoulders in the art world. This drawing feels so immediate, so present, like a conversation between the artist and the paper. The lack of definitive lines offers a glimpse into the artist's process of thinking through the subject. What do you see when you look at her?