Female image 1975

This is Hryhorii Havrylenko’s ‘Female Image’, made with ink on paper. The marks are so varied and full of life, aren’t they? You can see how the pen just dances around the page. It makes me think about art-making as a conversation, a call and response. The lines vary in thickness, sometimes scratchy and light, sometimes bold and definite, especially around the face. Look at how the artist uses the hatching technique to create shadows and volume. The crisscrossing lines around the hair give it a wonderful sense of texture and depth. The strange grid behind the head, with its controlled geometry, contrasts beautifully with the loose and gestural strokes in the face. It reminds me a little of some of the early drawings of Picasso, that same sense of playful, exploratory line. It feels so immediate and honest, like a direct record of the artist’s hand and eye. And that, for me, is what makes it so compelling.