Besim Kastrati 2015

This is Gazmend Freitag’s pencil drawing of Besim Kastrati, and you can see how the artist used a limited palette to capture his sitter. I can imagine Freitag working in a focused intensity, using the simple medium to produce a really evocative portrait. There's something so immediate and direct about drawing. The way the lines define the contours of the face, the shadows under the eyes, each mark feels considered. I wonder what Freitag was thinking as he drew, what he wanted to capture about Besim? Look how he renders the glasses, each line contributing to the overall likeness. There's a real sensitivity in the marks, it feels like an intimate exchange. It reminds me how artists, through observation and mark-making, can distill the essence of a person, a place, a feeling.