Pewter Deep Plate c. 1937

Hester Duany made this drawing of a pewter deep plate with graphite on paper. It's almost photorealistic, but there's something more personal going on, too. Look at the gradations of tone, so smooth and subtle. The way she builds up the layers of graphite, it's like she's trying to capture the very essence of the metal. I'm reminded of Agnes Martin. You can almost feel the cool, hard surface of the plate. See how the light catches the rim, defining its shape? It’s so simple, but so effective. It reminds me that drawing is a process of discovery, of slowly revealing the world through marks on paper. There’s something deeply satisfying about that. It's all about close observation, and about trying to translate what we see into something tangible. It’s a conversation, really, between the artist, the object, and us, the viewers. And that conversation never really ends, does it?