Nu agenouillé, de face c. 1908

This is a drawing by Henri Matisse of a nude, kneeling. Imagine him with his stick of charcoal, the side of it, not the point. You can see it in the marks! I like the way Matisse's lines describe her weight. I think the figure is a bit awkward but in a good way. It's like he is thinking aloud, trying to figure out the volume of the form with a tentative line. Look at how her elbow connects with her knee. Matisse wants you to really see how those things are connected; it's like he’s pulling the parts into relationship. I wonder how many tries it took to get it just so? The charcoal lines are not precious, they are there to suggest the volume but are more about the process of looking. That's the thing about drawing, it’s like a rehearsal for sculpture. This reminds me of other sketches by artists like Picasso, and it makes you feel like you are in the studio with them!