Silver Mug 1936

This is Charles Garjian’s drawing of a silver mug, a simple yet precise study in graphite. Garjian is really going for it here, using all kinds of soft marks and subtle gradations to give shape and life to a humble object. He coaxes the flat paper into curving planes and reflective surfaces. It's amazing. Look closely at the way he captures the light on the side of the mug. The shading is smooth, almost luminous, making the metal seem to glow from within. It reminds me of the drawings of Seurat, though there's also something folksy, almost obsessive about Garjian's process. It's a beautiful thing to see an artist so engaged with a single object, finding endless possibilities in the play of light and shadow. It makes you realize that everything, even a mug, has its own story to tell if you just take the time to look.