Juliusz Słowacki 1924

This drawing of Juliusz Słowacki was made by Zygmunt Waliszewski in 1924, and I think they used pencils. The marks are so immediate, the drawing feels like a snapshot of a thought. The way Waliszewski uses color is striking: blue shading around the figure, and these hits of red on the hand and the quill. It’s like he’s using color to amplify certain feelings. You can really feel the artist's hand in the way the lines are laid down, so expressive and kind of raw. The lines are searching, like the artist is trying to capture something fleeting, a feeling or an essence, rather than a perfect likeness. It’s like the drawing itself is a process, a journey of discovery. Thinking about other artists who have been able to capture likeness in a sketch, I'm reminded of David Hockney. Both have a similar interest in the immediacy of a sketch. They embrace imperfection, allowing for multiple interpretations and a sense of ongoing conversation.