Untitled [side view of squatting female nude] 1955 - 1967

Here's Diebenkorn's drawing of a squatting nude, all charcoal smudges and whispers on paper. I can imagine him circling the model, charcoal stick in hand, trying to capture not just what he sees, but the feeling of weight, of flesh pressing against itself. The marks! They’re so alive, like quick, darting thoughts. See how he builds up the form with these scribbly lines? It’s like he's feeling his way around the body, mapping its curves and angles. It’s not about perfection, but about process, about the sheer joy of looking and marking. I think of other artists like Goya and Guston, who also found ways to use black marks to express something deeply human. There is a lineage, a conversation across time, a call and response. We are all squating, looking, and drawing with the resources we have at hand.