We’re Back in the Saddle Again 1946

Here we have a pencil drawing of a cowgirl on a horse by Gil Elvgren, and the way he sketches the lines, it's like he's thinking aloud with the pencil. Look closely, and you’ll see these delicate, unfinished lines around the subject, giving us a peek into the artist's process. The shading on the horse and the figure is subtle, almost like he's feeling his way around the forms, you can imagine how he decided where the light should hit. I really notice the way Elvgren renders the cowgirl's face, there's this real sense of her energy and charm, but it’s also just a simple graphite on paper. The drawing reminds me a bit of Degas' sketches, where you get a sense of the artist working through ideas, but with a bit more of an American, 'can-do' spirit. It's a celebration of the process of artmaking, that it's okay to leave things open-ended and full of possibilities.