Disegna

The quote, "Disegna Antonio, disegna e non perder tempo" is worth revisiting. A couple of years ago I posted about drawing using that title for the blog. The translation, from a note by Michelangelo Buonarotti to one of his students is "Draw Antonio. draw and don't waste time." This advice from a half-milennium in the past is still fundamental to good art. 

"Felon," graphite/chalk on paper

Drawing isn't simply making an image of something. Sure, realists like me concentrate on representation. We may exaggerate or change the image but we want our paintings and drawings to look like the object or person, even then. Drawing is a critical skill in representing reality. You might say it's not so critical for abstractionists but that's arguable. For one thing, you must understand the reality of something before you can break it into component parts (abstract it). Drawing is even useful for non-objective painters. Jackson Pollock memorably worked very very hard to exclude any marks that looked like something in the real world, for example. You must know what you're excluding as well as including in the work you're making. 

So for me, drawing is an every day activity, and has been for decades. Besides whatever painting or other artwork or activity, I set aside an hour or so for drawing, usually in the mornings. But over the years I've drawn in my studio, in coffee shops, airport waiting areas, meetings, concerts, and even in movies. Drawing is the chain running through my work and holding everything together. 

After daVinci, digital

For a long while the majority of my drawings have been digital, primarily because of convenience, but of course digital drawing is tougher when you're out and about. These days digital tablets are beginning to catch up, though the vast majority of my digital work is done on a Wacom display tablet. These astonishing devices are actually pressure-sensitive video monitors that you draw on directly. That is, the display is like an electronic drawing board. Anyway, the convenience--just turn it on--is hard to beat, and so is the clean up. 

"Rooster," ink on paper