David Murphy’s drawings complement the extraordinary variety of his approach to the human figure shown in his paintings. Across pencil, ink and markers, he moves from spare, economical line drawings to densely worked studies. Some compositions are almost diagrammatic in their simplicity; others are intensely expressive, with the image emerging from a mass of vigorous marks.

Murphy’s choice of pose and cropping can transform a seemingly straightforward study into something much more psychologically charged. His drawings are rarely exercises in academic observation – the act of drawing becomes a way of imposing his own emotional response upon the subject.

Murphy has described drawing as the most direct of the visual arts, with the artist’s hand flowing onto the paper. His preferred medium for several decades has been brush and Indian ink, which he values for its spontaneity and the freedom of its line. Some of the drawings here show that freedom, while others show a painstaking approach in which layers of pencil build up complex textures and tones.

These drawings reveal an artist who refuses to settle into a single style or technique. This variety is precisely the defining characteristic of Murphy’s drawing practice.