His composition is fearless; look at how he plants that figure alone and unadorned in the center of the page, balanced there by a Zen master. No need to hedge his bets with gimmicks or wispy lines implying a background. His primeval "L" shaped design is so basic and timeless it might have been etched into a cave wall.
Yet, the raw strength of his design doesn't conflict with the subtlety of his drawing.
Williams' shading starts our eyes at the model's face, but the shading is soon softened by gouache as we travel down her body. It disappears altogether where her sparsely drawn toes form a peninsula with his signature.
Williams' sensitive line shows the kind of clarity that only comes with genuine knowledge of the human form.
Artists have been drawing the human form since the world was new, and there is certainly nothing shockingly original about this pose. Isn't it marvelous, then, that artists continue to come up with fresh variations that delight, inspire and educate us?
No comments:
Post a Comment