Untitled [seated female nude with right arm over chair back] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this charcoal drawing of a seated nude, and I immediately imagine him circling the model, squinting, trying to get a handle on the weight and presence of the body in space. It's so linear, so reduced—the charcoal like a seismograph recording the subtle shifts of form. I bet he was thinking about Matisse and Picasso, maybe even Ingres. There’s a real economy in the marks, each line doing so much work. Look how he captures the curve of her hip with just a few strokes, or the way the arm drapes over the chair back. It feels both effortless and deeply studied. Drawing like this is a conversation with art history, a way of testing ideas, and making them new again through your own hand. It reminds me that art is all about seeing and feeling, then finding a way to share that with the world.