Balthasar Klossowski has many quotes, but there is one I took a particular liking to, “Painting is a language which cannot be replaced by another language. I don’t know what to say about what I paint, really”. I find this extremely powerful and it is something I work towards. I am not a fan of writing, nor am I any good at it. Because of this, I chose to illustrate what I see the world as, and try not the decipher it with words. I think Balthus painted what he saw and what he felt and chose not to talk about it because it was simply his view of the world. In my experience, people tend to push their own opinions of the world onto another. With illustrations, one can take of it what they need and not have to explain it to anyone else.
The top image is done by me and the bottom by Balthus. These two images are studies rather than illustrations. I can clearly see Bathlus’ lines and process as he went through this drawing, and although it is not as visible on my drawing, I know that I normally start with lines such as Balthus’. He seems to catch the essence of the figure, not just the figure itself, and that is whaat I constantly work toward in my figure studies also.