Study of Guenevere seated in apple tree 1997

Dante Gabriel Rossetti made this drawing of Guenevere with ink and graphite, probably sometime in the mid-19th century. Look at how the different tonal values are achieved with thin, washy strokes, and some bolder, darker marks to give the skirt volume. You can see how the drawing is a process of finding the figure. I love the way the lines are so tentative, like he’s feeling his way around the form. The texture is lovely, like a stain, and there’s a real sense of depth created by the contrast between the darks of the dress and the light, airy sketch of the tree behind her. The tree’s just a suggestion, but it really places Guenevere in that legendary space. It reminds me of Paula Rego, who also had a way of using drawings to tell stories, to get to something both personal and mythic. I think the way Rossetti embraces uncertainty in this drawing, leaves room for interpretation, is very modern, very cool.