"To Draw is to Be Human" Response

Dexter's comment -- "drawing is part of our interrelation to our physical environment" touches on the idea that drawing (or human art, more generally) is entirely influenced by one's experience in the world; by what is, in other words. As abstract as a drawing may be, in the end, it's still an "imitation of reality, and reality is art" as author, N.D. Wilson puts it. With drawing, however, comes a certain freedom and subjectivity. As concrete as reality is, drawing is nevertheless a "feeling", quotes Dexter. Picasso saw it as a "way of seizing the power [of the world] by giving form to our terrors as well our desires".  In a sense, drawing is form of communication: an artist utilizes a set of elements -- line, space, shape, etc. (all long since defined and made available by the world he's born into) -- to make a statement and/or pose a question. In the end, some kind of response to the drawing is inevitable. An observer's fondness, disgust, or indifference to the artist's drawing is directly tied to their own predispositions (shaped by their own experiences). 

One unique aspect of drawing which, in certain cases, gives it precedence over other art forms, is the potential immediacy of the product. It's a way of "experiencing [the work] more quickly", as Dexter puts it, than other art forms.  She sheds light on the fact that historically, mapping out with pencil or charcoal has been "a means of thinking through and preparing in advance for completed works of sculpture or painting." Which is to say, the power of a meticulously-crafted oil landscape has much to owe to the artist's original sense of balance and line as understood via the drawing. 

Chase Wantland

http://chaseorion.blogspot.com/