Celia

David Hockney's "Celia" (1975) is a colored pencil drawing with smudging and erasing on off-white wove paper, depicting Celia Birtwell, one of Hockney's most frequent models and closest friends. Celia Birtwell was a British textile and fashion designer, and she appears in numerous Hockney drawings, paintings, and prints from the 1960s onward. Her distinctive features—the long hair, the elegant profile—became one of Hockney's signature subjects. The colored pencil technique allows for both precise linear definition and soft areas of color built up through layering and smudging. The erasing technique creates highlights by removing pigment to reveal the paper beneath. Hockney's portraits of Celia are among his most affectionate works, capturing her beauty, intelligence, and the warmth of their friendship. This drawing belongs to the period when Hockney was exploring different drawing techniques, from the pure line of his pen and ink works to the richer, more textured effects of colored pencil.

Hockney's portraits of Celia Birtwell constitute one of the most sustained and affectionate series of portraits of a single model in 20th-century art, documenting a friendship that spanned decades.

This colored pencil portrait of Celia captures the elegance and warmth of Hockney's most frequently depicted model, the soft medium and gentle handling conveying the intimacy of a long friendship.