Sketch of Female Nude

This pen and ink sketch by American illustrator James Wells Champney depicts a reclining female figure in classical pose. Champney, known for his work in the emerging illustrated press of the late 19th century, employs economical line work to suggest form and drapery. The study exemplifies the academic figure training that underpinned illustration practice during the newspaper and early magazine era. Such sketches served as foundational material for illustrators developing the visual language—compositional strategies, gesture notation, and figure representation—that would become essential to sequential art and the developing comic strip form.