Drawing for Sculpture SF65-010 1965

Sam Francis made this drawing for sculpture with watercolor, and you can really see that process at play. It's all about the fluidity of the medium, the way the colors blend and bleed into each other. I love how Francis lets the paint do its thing. Look at that left shape, how it zigzags across the paper with a dark edge but a bright yellow centre; it's so visceral. The splatters of color, those little droplets dancing around the composition, it feels like an action painting where chance and intention come together. The texture is smooth but you can see how the water interacts with the paper. Francis isn’t trying to hide anything, instead he’s showing us the joy of the gesture. You know, seeing this makes me think of Helen Frankenthaler and her soak-stain technique. Both artists embraced the unpredictable nature of paint. There is something so open and unresolved about this image, it's like a visual poem, full of feeling, and never quite pinned down.