How to draw

the other day at the library
one of the kids came up to me
and asked
if the library had any art books
after a little search I found a book
on Leonardo da vinci
and
vincent van gogh
the kid explained
“i don’t want a book on art!! I want a book on how to draw”
“but you already know how to draw”
i said, and
opening up the Van Gogh book to a reproduction of the sunflowers
“look, have you seen this picture”
“no”
“wow really”
“yes”
“okay wait a minute”
at this point
i grabbed
a piece of paper
a pencil
and handed it to the kid
“right, okay draw those flowers”
erm….?
“no, go on, I know you can, don’t worry about it
Just draw the flowers as you want”
“okay”
later…
my colleague
handed me
a piece of paper
with a drawing of the sunflowers
my colleague said
“the kid wanted you to have it”


and now we come to the question, 'what
is drawing?' strange such a question
should have to asked. But some of
us have forgotten

walter richard sickert