Robert Henri Drawing Quotations

Realize that a drawing is not a copy. It is a construction in very different materials. A drawing is an invention.

Because we are saturated with life, because we are human, our strongest motive is life, humanity; and the stronger the motive back of the line the stronger, and therefore more beautiful, the line will be.

Count on big lines to express your ideas.

You will never draw the sense of a thing unless you are feeling it at the time you work.

Has your drawing the meaning you saw in the model at first?

If you think of a school drawing while you work, your drawing will look like one.

Keep a bad drawing until by study you have found out why it is bad.

A Curve does not exist in its full power until contrasted with a straight line.

Lines are results, do not draw them for themselves.

Drawing is not following a line on the model, it is drawing your sense of the thing.

A drawing should be a verdict on the model. Don't confuse a drawing with a map.

A common defect of modern art study is that too many students do not know why they draw.