Linescape

I draw primarily as the foundation for painting and not often just for the sake of drawing. Of course, like most kids, I drew a lot as a child including, to my mother's dismay, crayoning all my bedroom walls which I thought looked terrific!. Being part of a large 1950s family, we had no funds for real art supplies, having to improvise instead. Mom would save me the white card inserts from her nylon stocking packages, and my accountant Dad gave me the stubby ends of discarded pencils from his work: I thought these were tremendous gifts! I also used to make a mess of magazines that came into our house, outlining the edges of colour changes in their photographs and especially in faces. I think this childhood activity taught me a lot about drawing structure, and the play of light and shadow on surfaces.

Paint as you see and be accurate in your drawing: the whole secret of your art is there. --William Bouguereau