Arms of a Boxer 1916

George Bellows made this drawing of arms with graphite on paper. It's all about process, you know? Like he's feeling out the form, finding the power in those muscles. I wonder what Bellows was thinking about when he made this. Was he watching a boxer spar, trying to capture that kinetic energy? You can almost feel the tension in those lines, the way the graphite is darker in some areas, lighter in others. There's this arm, see, flexed and ready to punch. The strokes are so confident, like he knew exactly where he was going with each line. And then there's the other arm, more tentative, still searching for its form. It reminds me of my own process, how I start with a vague idea and let the painting guide me. It’s like a conversation, the marks leading to more marks, until something emerges. Bellows is teaching us that making art is all about an embodied expression of feeling.