LA CIENEGA AREA

Artists’ adolescent scribblings become interesting only in retrospect--after they have established visual identities. In the case of the late Charles White, drawings gleaned from 1934 and 1935 sketchbooks are not only intriguing accounts of his artistic origins but impressive evidence of early achievement. The sheets were executed while White was taking a class at the Art Institute of Chicago and--as the story goes--returning to his high school to instruct his teacher and fellow students. Apocryphal or not, the tale is believable because of White’s facility.

At 15 and 16, he hadn’t begun to mold his mature style. None of the sculptural monumentality and little of the social conscience that characterize his trademark art is here, but he had found his subject matter: black people. White was so busy exploring the variety of their facial structures and expressions that he didn’t have time to work out a formula. Some startlingly fine portraits emerge on these yellowing pages. His range of figure drawings is remarkable too--from single dancers to sad couples and a group of men in overcoats.

In short, the budding artist was doing exactly what was appropriate: figuring out what he wanted to say and trying all possible approaches until he found one that fit his own vision. (Heritage Gallery, 718 N. La Cienega Blvd., to Feb. 28.)