Untitled [female nude seated and looking down] 1955 - 1967

This drawing of a seated nude by Richard Diebenkorn is all tentative, searching lines, laid down with charcoal on paper. I can imagine Diebenkorn's hand moving across the surface, feeling out the form, correcting, adjusting, never quite settling. There's a vulnerability here, not just in the subject, but in the artist's process. The lines are so exposed, so honest, you get a sense of his struggle to capture the essence of the figure. I’ve had those days in the studio, where every mark feels like a question. It reminds me of a Cy Twombly drawing, but with a greater sense of weight and volume. There's something so compelling about the way he uses line to suggest form, rather than define it. It's like he's inviting us to participate in the act of seeing, of constructing the image in our own minds. That’s what a great drawing can do, it’s an invitation.