Drawing of Four Female Heads

The sheet features a series of four female portraits drawn in blue ink on paper. All works are united by a common technique and manner of execution, which tends toward a laconic yet realistic depiction of the model. The bust portrait format allows the viewer to focus on the characters' faces, their facial expressions, and subtle emotional states, without overloading the composition with unnecessary details. The works do not contain backgrounds or decorative surroundings, as they are purposeful visual studies that explore individual features of appearance, the character of lines, and the rhythm of composition. Each image demonstrates careful attention to the structure of the face, its anatomical features, and the preservation of harmonious proportions. The line is confident, clear, but not rigid, and can modulate: in some areas, it becomes thinner, while in others, it is saturated to create depth or emphasis. The absence of colour is compensated for by the variety of ink densities, which creates precise boundaries between light and shadow. This achieves the effect of volume and presence of the model, despite the technical limitations of the means of expression. The women's faces are similar, perhaps conventional types, or attempts to capture a specific individuality, while leaving some room for interpretation. The clothing is depicted in a generalised manner, with only hints of a collar or shoulder line, which corresponds to the overall concept of the series as an exercise in portrait observation. It is particularly noteworthy that these works are no longer educational in nature. Created by an artist who was already mature, they are the result of independent research on the subject, where faces are studied as carriers of inner states. These are unique exercises in research, but not in the sense of technical training; rather, they are a form of professional, self-reflective, artistic dialogue. This practice is typical for experienced artists who use drawing as a tool for thinking, a plastic equivalent of internal observation. The laconic manner, the absence of decorative excess, the clarity and precision of the line, emotional restraint, and psychological expressiveness – all these form a coherent series that can be viewed as an autonomous plastic exercise in portrait modelling and a fragment of the search process within the author's creative methodology.

In the centre, under the images, there is an inscription: "25 6 64".

Borys Voznytskyi Lviv National Art Gallery