Decisions can be scary because they can be an irrevocable commitment.  

 Of course many are easy changed but I have set up these drawings so that all decisions are final.  You may ask why; I guess on the surface it goes with the territory of using ink.  There’s no erasing ink, but then again I could have used pencil.   

This is all very conscious on my part, not an accident.  I’m using ink because I like how it works with my subject, and also so I can’t erase it therefore forcing myself to just go with it and be definite.  I suppose that could make me freeze but actually it’s made me braver, figuring what the hell, if I want to make this picture I gotta try this out even if I fail and so what if it’s wrong.  But ironically what happened is I focus more deeply, my hand, brain and eyes are better connected and my hand is surer. I am drawing what I know I see.   

Recently I copied down a quote by John Berger which I taped to the cement wall next to my desk in my studio.  It says: 

 “A drawing of a tree shows not a tree, but a tree being looked at”.   

I think about this a lot now. 

Usually I’ve discovered that if I draw something that seems to screw things up, it’s best to leave well enough alone, and eventually what I didn’t like integrates itself into the whole, especially the more I work on the picture.  Sometimes I can draw over something but all lines are always there, somewhere.  Once in awhile something I did makes me so crazy that I have to do something rash, which often makes things worse but once in awhile, better.