Untitled (Sleeping Figure) 

Charles Blackman created this Untitled painting using a combination of gouache and pastel, materials easily accessible and relatively inexpensive. You can see the artist’s hand clearly at work; the texture of the paper, the layering of the gouache paint, and the powdery surface of the pastel all contribute to a sense of intimacy, as though the work were a page torn from a sketchbook. The linear quality and muted palette also reinforces this immediacy. While the image suggests a domestic interior, the presence of the exposed surface reminds us of the labor involved in the artwork's production, and grounds it in the everyday. The composition also reveals the artist’s process. The background appears to be a horizontally oriented canvas that is split into four quadrants. Ultimately, by focusing on humble materials and straightforward methods, Blackman draws attention to the value and significance of the artist’s personal experience.