First Sketch for "Waiting" 1974

Will Barnet made this sketch for "Waiting" with charcoal on paper. Charcoal offers a directness, almost like grabbing a piece of the earth and using it to mark a surface. The way Barnet uses it here, with those smudged lines, gives the scene a raw, unrefined feel. You can almost see the artist wrestling with the composition, searching for the right balance of light and shadow. The subject matter, too, speaks to the everyday. It's not a grand landscape or a heroic figure, but a simple building with stairs and a small window. It seems to evoke a sense of quiet observation, perhaps even a bit of melancholy. The artist is capturing a fleeting moment in time. The sketch is a reminder that art doesn't always have to be polished or refined to be powerful, it’s also about the process, the act of seeing and recording, the dialogue between the artist and the world around them.