Untitled [detail of a man's head] [verso] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing, “Untitled [detail of a man’s head] [verso]”, with pen and ink and graphite on paper. Look at how lightly Diebenkorn approached the sketch, it’s all about the process here. The marks are spare, translucent even, like a ghost of an image. It’s the kind of drawing you might do to warm up, just feeling your way around the subject. Notice how the ink of the head contrasts with the graphite, almost as if two different people were working on the same piece. The lines aren’t precious, they overlap and sometimes don’t quite meet, which gives the whole thing a casual, searching quality. The man’s head itself is so intriguing, caught in a moment of contemplation, or maybe just a pause. The single line bisecting the face adds an element of mystery. It reminds me a little of Picasso’s quick sketches, where he’s just trying to capture the essence of something with as few lines as possible. Both artists embrace the unfinished, the suggestion of form rather than a complete picture. It’s this openness that invites us in, allowing our own imaginations to fill in the gaps.