El Dios del Fuego 1948

Carlos Merida made this beautiful drawing titled, El Dios del Fuego, using colored pencils. The drawing is a soft dance of color, like mist in the morning light. It's clear that Merida was feeling his way through the process, letting the colored pencil lead him where it may. I love how the textures aren't blended perfectly; you can see the individual strokes, like the artist paused just long enough for each mark to matter. Look at the way the blues fade into pinks, how the yellows are just a suggestion of light, not a solid mass. It’s like he's whispering secrets with color. This reminds me of Hilma af Klint’s diagrammatic approach to color. Ultimately, the beauty of a work like this is that it embraces the unresolved. It’s a reminder that art isn't about answers, but about the questions we ask along the way.