Untitled [woman with eyes closed] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this ink drawing of a woman with her eyes closed, sometime during his career. The way he approaches mark-making feels immediate, direct, and almost urgent. Look at how the ink varies in thickness and darkness, lending a tactile quality to the piece. The lines are confident but not fussy. See that little scribble of lines around the dog near the woman? It's like Diebenkorn is thinking out loud, searching for the form with his pen. You can almost feel his hand moving across the page, deciding, adjusting, and refining his perception of the scene. This reminds me a little of Matisse's line drawings – that same economy of means, that ability to capture so much with so little. It's like they're both saying, "Here's what I see, take it or leave it." It's this honesty, this openness to the process, that makes art so engaging, isn't it?