Artists

My father was a jazz musician and as a little girl, I was so intimidated; I couldn't figure out how he could make those sounds come from the piano. I didn't realize that long before I was born, he had practiced and practiced to get to that point, and that if my first attempts didn't sound like him, it didn't mean I would never be able to do it.

For me, drawing begins analytically: this angle compared to that angle, this shape is bigger than that shape, this is darker than that, and this vertical is a certain way in from the edge of the paper; just comparing one thing to another, until it starts to coalesce. And then eventually, if I'm lucky, it starts to flow more and it becomes more of a dance between little flashes of inspiration--making a mark without doubting yourself--and stepping back and continuing to analyze.

I think with this one, I started with the angle of the couch arm compared to the couch back, and then figured out where the point of his hat was relative to their intersection, and built it out from there.