Untitled [nude seated with her left foot pulled under her] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a nude seated figure with charcoal on paper. Look at the way the charcoal sort of clings to the paper, creating a dry, almost scratchy texture. You can see the smudges and the ghost marks of previous lines, all part of the process. It's not about hiding the work, but about showing it. The leg pulled under gives the figure a sense of intimacy and contemplation. The marks are so immediate, almost raw. They remind me of Willem de Kooning’s drawings, where the energy of the line is as important as the form it creates. Diebenkorn's drawing isn’t trying to be perfect; it’s trying to be real, to capture a fleeting moment of observation. The smudges, the overlaps, the corrections – they all tell a story. It’s like he's saying, "Here's what I saw, and here's how I struggled to get it down." It's a messy, beautiful, and very human kind of art.