Seated Male Nude: Study for "Science" - Iowa State Capitol
1905
graphite
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1905
graphite
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This sketch shows a barefoot man sitting with his legs stretched out in front of him. His left arm rests on his knee while his right hand touches his chin. The paper has a faint grid drawn over it in light pencil lines. The shading is simple but shows the shape of his body clearly. The artist wrote "Science" and "Iowa State Capitol" in the corner, hinting this was practice for a bigger project. The squared grid suggests they planned to scale it up later. Look up cross-hatching to see how artists build shadows with lines.
