Solon H. Borglum, born Ogden, UT - Goat - n.d. - T-Shirt

A faint pencil study of a goat's head in profile, its horns sweeping back from the crown, drawn quickly on pale paper.

Visual Elements & Composition

The palette is restrained: pale cream paper, with graphite lines so light they read as breath on the page. The head is lowered toward the viewer's left, and its outline does the work. Ears, brow and muzzle are suggested with a few fine strokes, while short hatching at the top of the skull, where the horns meet it, is the only place the pencil builds up tone. Most of the sheet stays empty. Faint show-through from the reverse drifts across the lower half, so the page feels handled rather than pristine.

Meaning & Symbolism

The drawing is a study of posture and silhouette, not surface detail. A head lowered and turned in profile reads as alertness or grazing, and the clarity of that outline is the point. Solon Borglum (1868-1922), born in Ogden, Utah, worked mainly as a sculptor, with animal subjects forming a major part of his output alongside figure work. He was the younger brother of Gutzon Borglum. Studies like this one fixed the essential character of a creature from life, and that observation was the basis for modelling it in bronze or stone.

Drawn for the Body

A tee is seen up close and in motion, so a sketch this quiet rewards a second look as the wearer moves. The head sits in the upper centre of the design, where the open field around it mirrors the empty sheet the artist drew on. The sharp curve of the horns and the restraint of the lines suit a shirt that holds its subject calmly rather than shouting it.