Drawing is our first language—in caves or sidewalk chalk
drawings. It’s a gift that graces countless kitchen refrigerators. Creative
people still use it to record their thoughts and ideas. It’s not going away,
but it’s on the wane.
For me, what seems to be falling away is drawing as craft,
discipline and intimate and direct engagement with the observed world, in
particular the human figure. Drawing the human figure is a strenuous and
intimate. It’s an act of humanity to look with sustained intensity at
another--and naked—human being.
The disconnection from the human figure in drawing is
symptomatic of our disconnection from the natural world and our romance with
uber-muscled comic heroes and animated cartoon figures.
There has always been room for all approaches to the figure,
but there is no substitute for figurative drawing with its foundation based on
disciplined knowledge.
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