Learning from the Past

There's really nothing wrong with studying works of the past. The idea has gone abroad, has become virtually an article of faith in some circles, that art must be "new." Somehow even looking closely at the old masters has become suspect. It would be hard to make something new without reference to the past -- would be really just the biggest shot in the dark. Odds are good that someone somewhere has thought your most private thoughts. Before. (Before you were born.)

It can be wonderful, though, to deliberately engage in visual conversation with artists of the past using a pencil or a pen.