SKETCHBOOK #1, page 66

I was walking around downtown fairhope one afternoon, and I saw a painting in the window of the gallery next to page and palette. It was pretty abstracted, but I think it was a group of figures sitting around a table at a party.

What really struck me, though, was a prominent figure, a woman, beautifully simplified to a few elegant angles. Her dress was a solid, unadorned plane of black, and with a few sparse lines, her figure was suggested in a really gorgeous way. It was kind of a small detail of the painting, but it struck me, and it was definitely my jumping off point when I started this drawing.

In retrospect, I see this as a point where I was beginning to recognize the importance of composition and line quality, and the potential beauty of restraint.