I spend a lot of time doing life drawing and studying anatomy because my practice is figurative and representational, although I take some liberties: I like Egon Schiele, Toulouse-Lautrec, van Gogh and the German Expressionists so taking liberties comes naturally. But now and again I take a BIG liberty and head towards the abstract. It happened during this particular drawing session. The model, the pose, the brown paper sketchpad I bought in New York, the set of conte crayons; all were in the right place at the right time to scribble this little abstract nude. It reminds me of petroglyphs I saw high up in the Karakoram Mountains when I visited Pakistan. They’re over 10,000 years old, picked out of the rocks with primitive tools, but they contain the essence of humans and animals, despite their abstraction. I’ve tried to work in this style since, but it’s very hard. people often look at abstracted art and say, “a child of six could do it” – they have no idea how difficult it can be.
scribblah 
It’s easy putting marks on the paper – the hard bits are knowing where to put them and getting your hand to put them where your eye and brain says they need to go!
Years of practice, nothng else for it
Yes, I agree that people don’t realize just how tough it is to find that simplification of form. You’ve done it brilliantly here!
Thanks, it was a lot of things coming together at the right time
Simply brilliant
Thank you 🙂
It never ceases to amaze me how little it takes to represent an entire person, mood & everything.
I could draw all day & never capture a person the way you can with just a few lines.
I don’t think it’s easy.
Thanks, I was lucky that evening. I’ve been trying to get the same effect since but it’s elusive.