36 TEACHERs COLLEGE COLUmbIA UNIvERsITy
Drawing Drawings
the parts, but we can see their relationship within
the line they share. The middle of one thing is often
the edge of something else. Even spaces between
lines show time, and that time becomes part of the
drawing itself.
Like a single line, an entire drawing can show
where it began, where it went, and how it ended,
from the beginning to the middle to the end,
through the past, present, and future.
An accumulation of lines may embody many
unnamed things of graphic origin. In spite of the
fact that the whole of anything is always part of
something else, I try to make my drawings feel
whole enough that they can become a credible fic-
tion embodied within the fact of form.
The whole of anything is always a part of some-
thing else, so a part of anything is the only whole we
have. We begin with a dot, and go from there. From
dot to line to circle to sphere, with all of the shapes
therein, we can turn pen and ink into anything we
care to see. From dot to dots, to lines, to patterns,
to shapes, to the semblance of forms, to representa-
tions, and references, we create simplicity through
complexity, cumulative, rather than additive.
When we draw, we teach, and when we study a
drawing, we learn. If we take the time to study our
own drawings, we learn even more. I do believe
that the best way to learn to draw is by intentionally
drawing to learn.
Sometimes I think it would be nice to draw my
final breath, but I have a lot more to learn before I
try doing that.