Princess Fawzia Fuad 2016

Gazmend Freitag drew this portrait of Princess Fawzia Fuad in 2016, using pencil on paper, a medium that really shows every mark. The wonderful thing about pencil is how immediate it feels. You can see the layering in Freitag’s marks, almost like he’s building up the form and personality of the princess right before your eyes. Look at the way he's captured the soft fabric of her headscarf with quick, light strokes, and then compare it to the denser, darker lines that define the structure of her face. It’s the contrast between these different qualities of line, the way they move from tentative to assured, that gives the portrait its emotional depth. There's a quiet intensity in her gaze, achieved with just a few carefully placed shadows. Freitag’s drawing reminds me of some of those early portrait sketches by Lucian Freud – that same dedication to seeing and recording every nuance. It’s a beautiful example of how simplicity can be incredibly powerful.