Young woman 1968

Hryhorii Havrylenko made this portrait of a young woman with colored pencil on paper. Look at the way the marks build up to create form; see how the color moves and shifts. It reminds me that artmaking is like a conversation, a back and forth between the artist and the work, a process of discovery. I'm drawn to the texture created by the layering of colored pencil. The cross-hatching in the background and on her face gives the piece a vibrant energy, like the whole surface is alive. Notice how the red of her dress pops against the cool green and blue of the background, creating a sense of depth and contrast. The individual marks are visible, and it feels like the artist didn’t want to hide the process but to celebrate it. There’s a vulnerability and directness that reminds me of Lucian Freud, although with a softer touch, each artist capturing something essential about what it means to be human. Art is about looking and seeing, but also about feeling and connecting.