Esquisse de bras gauche 

Narcisse-Virgilio Diaz made this study of a left arm on paper using graphite. The artist’s method here emphasizes the importance of draftsmanship in academic art, and the need to train the hand. Graphite pencils are a relatively modern technology, made possible by industrial processes that purify the raw material and combine it with clay to control hardness. Pencil manufacture creates specific working conditions for laborers, and depends on widespread literacy. The very nature of the pencil encourages precision, but here Diaz has used it to capture the supple form of an arm with just a few strokes. You can see how the light falls across the rounded deltoid muscle, and articulates the complex topography of the hand. The artist uses a very simple tool, and a reductive process to bring the figure into being. Although it is just a study, this drawing reminds us that all finished artworks depend on the skilled labor of the hand, something that is easy to forget.