1994, Two Men, 11x14 inches, charcoal and wash on paper, by Kenney Mencher
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This drawing is part of my Fresh Finds series—a project where I’m digging through my flat files and bringing older works out into the world again. These are pieces that marked different phases of my growth as an artist. They’ve been in my archive for years, and I thought it was time to let collectors in on this part of my journey. For anyone interested in the evolution of my work, these are foundational.
This one’s called Two Men, and I made it in 1994. It’s done in compressed charcoal with brush-applied washes. This material isn’t like vine charcoal—it’s denser, made with a water-soluble binder. That means when you hit it with a wet brush, it dissolves into these beautiful ink-like tones. It gave me a range of value and texture that felt right for what I was trying to do at the time—capture something of that noir look, where light and shadow are doing all the emotional heavy lifting.
The subject is a pair of older men—maybe from 1930s or '40s New York—caught in a moment that feels somewhere between a snapshot and a scene from a film. They’re wearing coats and hats, sitting and standing in a dark, crowded space. I was leaning into that warm black-and-white mood, the kind you’d see in old photos or film noir frames. You can see how the shadows fill the space, especially behind the standing figure, and the way the compressed charcoal helped me rough in those textures with speed and immediacy.
Stylistically, this is rooted in gesture and abstraction, but with a strong figurative base. The anatomy is simplified but solid—you can feel the weight in their bodies, especially in the way the seated figure hunches slightly. The environment is implied, not detailed, which lets the viewer's focus land on the interaction (or tension) between the two figures. There’s a strong diagonal flow to the background that helps frame the two characters and pushes the atmosphere forward.
This kind of drawing was influenced by artists like Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, and even a bit of Lucian Freud—especially in how I was letting materials lead the way emotionally, not just descriptively. I wasn’t trying to illustrate a specific scene, just trying to make something that feels like a memory or a fragment from a story.
Details:
Title: Two Men
Medium: Compressed charcoal with wash
Paper size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 1994
Unframed
Stored flat, excellent condition
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This drawing is part of my Fresh Finds series—a project where I’m digging through my flat files and bringing older works out into the world again. These are pieces that marked different phases of my growth as an artist. They’ve been in my archive for years, and I thought it was time to let collectors in on this part of my journey. For anyone interested in the evolution of my work, these are foundational.
This one’s called Two Men, and I made it in 1994. It’s done in compressed charcoal with brush-applied washes. This material isn’t like vine charcoal—it’s denser, made with a water-soluble binder. That means when you hit it with a wet brush, it dissolves into these beautiful ink-like tones. It gave me a range of value and texture that felt right for what I was trying to do at the time—capture something of that noir look, where light and shadow are doing all the emotional heavy lifting.
The subject is a pair of older men—maybe from 1930s or '40s New York—caught in a moment that feels somewhere between a snapshot and a scene from a film. They’re wearing coats and hats, sitting and standing in a dark, crowded space. I was leaning into that warm black-and-white mood, the kind you’d see in old photos or film noir frames. You can see how the shadows fill the space, especially behind the standing figure, and the way the compressed charcoal helped me rough in those textures with speed and immediacy.
Stylistically, this is rooted in gesture and abstraction, but with a strong figurative base. The anatomy is simplified but solid—you can feel the weight in their bodies, especially in the way the seated figure hunches slightly. The environment is implied, not detailed, which lets the viewer's focus land on the interaction (or tension) between the two figures. There’s a strong diagonal flow to the background that helps frame the two characters and pushes the atmosphere forward.
This kind of drawing was influenced by artists like Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, and even a bit of Lucian Freud—especially in how I was letting materials lead the way emotionally, not just descriptively. I wasn’t trying to illustrate a specific scene, just trying to make something that feels like a memory or a fragment from a story.
Details:
Title: Two Men
Medium: Compressed charcoal with wash
Paper size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 1994
Unframed
Stored flat, excellent condition
FREE SHIPPING
Shipping takes 3–4 Weeks
This ships from Round Lake Beach, Illinois. A suburb outside of Chicago.
I use UPS and sometimes US Post.
This drawing is part of my Fresh Finds series—a project where I’m digging through my flat files and bringing older works out into the world again. These are pieces that marked different phases of my growth as an artist. They’ve been in my archive for years, and I thought it was time to let collectors in on this part of my journey. For anyone interested in the evolution of my work, these are foundational.
This one’s called Two Men, and I made it in 1994. It’s done in compressed charcoal with brush-applied washes. This material isn’t like vine charcoal—it’s denser, made with a water-soluble binder. That means when you hit it with a wet brush, it dissolves into these beautiful ink-like tones. It gave me a range of value and texture that felt right for what I was trying to do at the time—capture something of that noir look, where light and shadow are doing all the emotional heavy lifting.
The subject is a pair of older men—maybe from 1930s or '40s New York—caught in a moment that feels somewhere between a snapshot and a scene from a film. They’re wearing coats and hats, sitting and standing in a dark, crowded space. I was leaning into that warm black-and-white mood, the kind you’d see in old photos or film noir frames. You can see how the shadows fill the space, especially behind the standing figure, and the way the compressed charcoal helped me rough in those textures with speed and immediacy.
Stylistically, this is rooted in gesture and abstraction, but with a strong figurative base. The anatomy is simplified but solid—you can feel the weight in their bodies, especially in the way the seated figure hunches slightly. The environment is implied, not detailed, which lets the viewer's focus land on the interaction (or tension) between the two figures. There’s a strong diagonal flow to the background that helps frame the two characters and pushes the atmosphere forward.
This kind of drawing was influenced by artists like Elmer Bischoff, Richard Diebenkorn, and even a bit of Lucian Freud—especially in how I was letting materials lead the way emotionally, not just descriptively. I wasn’t trying to illustrate a specific scene, just trying to make something that feels like a memory or a fragment from a story.
Details:
Title: Two Men
Medium: Compressed charcoal with wash
Paper size: 11 x 14 inches
Year: 1994
Unframed
Stored flat, excellent condition
