Indian Standing with Hand on Hip 1955

This drawing of a man, hand on hip, was made by Courtney Allen. The immediacy of the line suggests it was done in one sitting. I love the confidence of that quick mark making, which is all about the pleasure of describing form with line. Look at the slightly textured surface of the paper and the way the charcoal or graphite sits on it. The marks are layered, sometimes reinforcing the contours of the figure, like around the legs, and elsewhere they’re more gestural, like the jacket. I love the way he renders the face by layering the lines in a very short time; the layering creates tone and volume, and suggests a lot with a very light touch. This drawing reminds me of work by Alfred Leslie, another artist with a deep and sensitive understanding of the figure, and suggests art is a constant conversation across time. It invites us to consider art as an ongoing dialogue, embracing the beauty of ambiguity.