Untitled [figure resting left arm on a ledge: front view] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a resting figure with graphite on paper. Look at how the lines search and find their way around the form. I bet Richard was trying to work something out here. I can see him going over the same lines again and again, trying to get it just right. Maybe he was thinking about other artists who were interested in portraiture, like Giacometti. It’s like he's working out how to translate a three-dimensional form onto a two-dimensional surface. It’s like a snapshot of his thought process, right? He's trying to find the form, by probing the surface of the paper. And even though it’s just a simple drawing, it really gives you a sense of the figure’s presence. Painters have always learned from each other, riffing on ideas across time. It reminds me that making art is a process, not an end point. We keep pushing forward and building on each other's work.