In conversation we often say, “I see what you mean,” meaning, “I understand what you mean.” It can be said that seeing and understanding are one and the same thing. They are interchangeable. In the presence of most pieces of art an unconscious communication goes on between the work and the onlooker; at least, most artists wish it to be so. The artist cannot communicate unless he or she understands, and the moment of understanding becomes the moment of communication.

The artist will find out that the more carefully and searchingly they look, the more they find the subject eluding their ability to record it on paper, the greater should become their ability to persist. All this is a somewhat complicated way of saying that drawing only comes about by drawing, not by theory or shortcuts. An artist has to do the hard work, but they will find in the long run that disappointment and disgust at their attempts will give way to a tolerant acceptance.