Thornton Dial, Sr.

American, 1928 – 2016

This Is What People Like to Wear When They Out For Business, 1990

Mixed media on paper

Collection of Doug McCraw

Dial experimented with many different media and surfaces when he created his drawings, adapting his technique to the texture and color of the paper each time. An individual drawing may include charcoal, pencil, pastel, watercolor, coffee (used like a watercolor wash), acrylic, or other media entirely. This very early work may depict people the artist knew personally, or the man and woman may be archetypes. The strong colors in the work and the lines used to create their features bear similarities to the small sculptures in this exhibition. In context, this work illustrates how Dial’s experimentation with line, color, and media in his works on paper evolved.