Grasshoppers were my first live models. Watching them eat clover leaves, half jumping and half flying, I was learning little things about their nature. I didn't know it then, but I was learning things about all sorts of things, drawing from life. Dusting ants from the peonies I drew wasn't helping the peonies. Mom told me the ants helped them to open. Rabbits eating the tops off Mom's tulips, I learned, was why she was always chasing them from the yard. I never got a good drawing of a rabbit. Sometimes I had to ask my brother Mike about things, like why I shouldn't draw certain people. Dad wouldn't explain, just that I shouldn't.
No camera in New York, so I had to rely on my drawings to do paintings of the dock workers, and hippies in Central Park. I love drawing from life, especially pretty girls. Getting to know them and listening to their stories added to the experience. Crooked noses, and sad eyes became important to me as I got to know those who sat for me. A worn shirt and a busted thumb were things I found at the fish market.
I made it a point to learn about people. Placing the farmers I drew in front of their barns. Ladies relaxing, reading with cats in their laps, and golden retrievers peeking out from under wicker chairs.
Working from life, I believe artists teach themselves. They get to know little things and work a bit harder trying to get those little things just so - like a model's crooked nose or the colors in a dead tree. Why a leaf is a bit blue while the leaf next to it is more yellow-green?
A student wanted me to help him do a portrait of his wife. He had a beautiful commercial photograph of his wife. I asked him what his wife loves doing to relax. That is how he should portray her not from a photo as someone else sees her. Painting is personal, painting shows love, one never dies having been painted.
