The broken pottery in the drawing at left are remnant of an old Korean vessel once belonging to my father. When I have had to set up my own still life arrangements in a still life class, my set-up often includes objects that I love because they belonged to someone I loved or things to which I feel a powerful connection. This drawing was arranged with the broken I realized that I need to draw those things-for me.

My drawing ideas came from what I connect to-living things, things I love like people, animals, trees, water. What is so clear in hindsight, but not realized until today, is that I never set up and drew a traditional still life of my own volition. The sketch drawings I made of our family pets There were sketches of women and unfinished drawings of our dogs and cats, too. There were many drawings of her, all lost somewhere in my piles of paper. I started by sketching her asleep in her crib or playing with finger paints, in conte crayon. It wasn't until about the time my daughter was born almost twenty years later that I began to draw and sketch again.

I remember drawing horses, both from magazine photographs and from life, grazing in a field.Īnd then I went to college, and writing poetry and short stories replaced drawing. I remember drawing a middle aged man and small boy fishing in a lake, their bodies seen over the rim of a row boat from some other advertisement. I remember drawing the Marlboro Man from the cigarette advertisement. Other than my stick figures drawn as a small child I realized that my drawing started, sporadically at least, in junior high and high school.

So that's part of why I draw.īut today I realized that my affection for drawing didn't begin at any school, or under any instructor's guidance. There is no doubt that drawing informs painting and at Studio Incamminati it is a necessary component of artistry. They draw from still life set-ups and from nude models in hundreds of both short and long poses. I believe drawing is a foundation to realistic painting and Studio Incamminati instructors teach and teach and teach it, both in class and as homework.

Two of the questions I have focused on are: 'Why do I draw?', and 'Why do I draw what I draw?' Today was a day spent asking myself questions about my art.

I love you drawing