Week #36, Figure Drawing, Nude Figure

United States Fidelity and Guarantee Company Yearbook- February 21 & 23, Nude Figure, c. 1950, pencil on paper, 8” x 5 ½”.

Although Dusti Bongé had never taken any art classes when she started her artistic career, she was aware of its various traditions, styles and genres such as history painting, portraits, still lifes, and landscapes. And she understood the central role of studying the human form in any artist’s process of mastering their craft, especially the first two genres.

Having been exposed and introduced to the practice of the artist by her husband Archie, she appreciated the relentless dedication it required. And when she started joining him in the studio and on sketching excursions, she too began studying, among other things, the human figure, while steadily developing her own way of capturing her world.

Dusti had posed as a nude model for Archie on several occasions. Once Archie was gone, she practiced by being a model for herself. Having been both an actor, and having sat for Archie, striking a pose was nothing new to her. She did several nude studies early on in her career where she was both model and artist, including quick sketches and more elaborate watercolors.

It is very likely that these few pencil sketches from one of her early notebooks are figure drawings of herself. The way the silhouettes fill the page suggest they were created with quick glances in the mirror and focused on laying down the basic figure. They are incomplete, with the legs cut off below the knees, and the head being a bit of an afterthought in one and altogether missing in the other. These sketches show no attempt at embellishing the form, instead following the natural contours of the body.