Three paintings of Grant, by Daniel Barkley, 2000-2001

I know little about this Canadian artist whose work is based almost entirely of the male nude. Many of his paintings are of a higher concept than these three simple, forthright watercolors. But I really love the rough drawing and brushwork here, which makes such a beautiful contrast with the feeling of vulnerability in the model's pose and what we're allowed to intuit of his psychology; his nakedness is as much spiritual as physical.

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From the artist's website:
 

Born in Montreal in 1962, Daniel Barkley holds a Master of Fine Arts from Concordia University. His many solo and group exhibitions include shows across Canada and the United States (Toronto, Calgary, Montreal, New York, Santa-Fe, San Francisco, Mexico City...). In 2004, the Musée des arts contemporain des Laurentides hosted a retrospective of his works, and in 2007, University of Toronto's Justina M. Barnicke Gallery assembled and presented a collection of works defining his career to date. Recently, Barkley was short-listed for the Kingston Prize, Canada’s portrait competition; his watercolours have also won top prizes at national competitions, including the Canadian Society of Painters Watercolour’s A.J. Casson Medal 2002 and 2012.