Woman 1966

Jacob Kainen made this drawing of a woman in 1966. It's all about the line here, right? It's like he's thinking on the page, letting the pen wander and find its way. I love how he uses these simple lines to create form and shadow. Look at the way he scribbles in the grey ink to suggest the shadow on her chest, or fills in the background. It's not about perfection, it’s about capturing a feeling, a gesture. The texture created by the ink is so physical, you can almost feel the pen scratching across the paper. That one dark, decisive stroke that defines the curve of her back, it’s everything! Kainen reminds me a bit of Matisse, especially his drawings. There's that same sense of spontaneity, of trying to capture the essence of the figure with as few lines as possible. It’s a conversation across time, this ongoing exploration of what it means to see and represent the world.