Portrait of a Boy 1915

Aleksandr Deyneka made this drawing, Portrait of a Boy, with colored pencil on paper, and right away, I am struck by how the simplicity of the materials lends itself to the process of making. The rough paper is the ground for soft lines that suggest more than describe, with just a few darker hatching strokes defining the shadow. You can see the artist figuring out the forms, especially the outline of his hat. I love how the drawing is unfinished, raw, and imperfect. The colors are muted, natural, and earthy, yet they’re applied with sensitivity. The overall feeling is one of tenderness and quiet contemplation, like he is waiting patiently. This reminds me of the work of Lucian Freud, in that it is searching rather than declarative, showing us a window into a human encounter, rather than just an image of a person. Art is a process of discovery, not a statement of fact.