Many artists will say they draw because they can’t help it. Often, throughout the day, I reach for a pencil and a sketch pad to draw that quick moment in time that needs to be recorded in pictorial form.

The word drawing seems to be one that most professionals and students use freely, but which no two ever seem to use in quite the same way. Too many artists fail to see the pencil and chalk studies of the old masters as applicable to their present day problems. They frequently end by paying lip service to excellence without delving further into it. Furthermore, the trends of contemporary painting seem to by pass draftsmanship as a means. This is regrettable when considering that many of the artists we know as masters were very adept at drawing.

Pablo Picasso usually started his paintings with careful, rather realistic drawings, which he later over painted and “destroyed” (his words) as his study of his subject deepened and progressed.

Many artists rely on photography as a substitute for drawing, and arguments can be made that a positive use of the camera can be very helpful for an artist.  However, using it without going through the helpful steps that a drawing can give an artist shows a lack of understanding of what the ability to draw means. The two have little to do with each other when considering the discipline of drawing. They are not in conflict because there is no similarity of purpose. The mastery of drawing can be a release to the imagination and not, as photography sometimes is, a realistic aid.

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