A spontaneous gesture of the hand on a blank sheet of paper is the beginning of an improvisation.

After that each subsequent gesture is a response to that which already lies upon the page.

It's about being present in the moment, growing the drawing, keeping it lively and visually interesting.

It's about trying not to be too concerned about where it might end up. Preconception, preempting the final result limits its potential, cuts off possibilities, will likely lead to a dead end, a dead hand, a dead drawing.

It is difficult to grasp this fact when confronted with the finished product - a landscape, a still life, a cat, a baby, something abstract ... . Surely the 'idea' came first and the drawing its realization.

It's natural to think so, but no, other way 'round. The act of drawing, in fact, realizes the 'idea'.

These 'ideas', these drawings, are often ambiguous, incomplete, inconclusive, contradictory. The subject matter is varied, inconsistent because the end point was never visible at the beginning.

This in mind, when is the end point reached? Deciding when to stop is critical.

There must be enough there to make the 'idea' work. It's a point where any ambiguity, incompleteness, & etc. doesn't leave something lacking, is interesting and evocative rather than muddled and confusing, poses some interesting contrast, contradiction & (again) etc. That is, it's a matter of judgement.

Turning to more practical matters, I've tried to assemble the drawings on the web page into groups that have some sort of consistency of theme or style. It helps to have some sort of order when looking at them. Of course the order in which they were produced bounces from one theme and style to another without a blink.

James Yuncken, January 2018