“From the age of 6 I had a mania for drawing the shapes of things. When I was 50 I had published a universe of designs. But all I have done before the the age of 70 is not worth bothering with.

At 75 I’ll have learned something of the pattern of nature, of animals, of plants, of trees, birds, fish and insects.

When I am 80 you will see real progress.

At 90 I shall have cut my way deeply into the mystery of life itself.

At 100, I shall be a marvelous artist.

At 110, everything I create; a dot, a line, will jump to life as never before. To all of you who are going to live as long as I do, I promise to keep my word. I am writing this in my old age.

I used to call myself Hokusai, but today I sign myself ‘The Old Man Mad About Drawing.”

- Hokusai Katsushika

Drawing never dies. It holds on by the skin of its teeth, because the hunger it satisfies.. the desire for an active, investigative, manually vivid relation with the things we see and yearn to know about.. is apparently immortal.
- Robert Hughes


What do drawings mean to me? I really don't know. The activity absorbs me. I forget everything else in a way that I don't think happens with any other activity.
- John Berger


A pencil is quiet, clean, odorless, inexpensive, and lightweight. I can slip it in my pocket and take it with me everywhere - my secret friend.
- Sherry Camby


Drawing is putting a line around an idea.
- Henri Matisse


Draw, as much and as often as you can. When drawing lies fallow, the skill diminishes.
- Gene Black


Drawing is the discipline by which I constantly discover the world.
- Frederick Franck


We should talk less and draw more. Personally I would like to renounce speech altogether, and like organic nature, communicate everything I have to say in sketches.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe


Drawing is the simplest way of establishing a picture vocabulary because it is an instant, personal declaration of what is important and what is not.
- Betty Goodwin


My contribution to the world is my ability to draw... Drawing is still basically the same as it has been since prehistoric times. It brings together man and the world. It lives through magic.
- Keith Haring


You never outgrow drawing. It's so fundamental to everything...
- Debra Groesser


The next phase will be to draw, draw, and draw again, until somehow the alchemy happens. That's when I've so internalized the gesture and feel of the relationship, I will no longer need to work from my photos and will be able to freely imagine and play with all the elements to convey the spirit of what I'm after.
- Margot Hattingh


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


Drawing is one of the best ways to meditate, while staying connected to the world around us.
- Elsha Leventis


Drawing keeps the eye fresh, the mind alive, and intuition nimble.
- Timothy Nero


My drawings inspire and are not to be defined. They determine nothing. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous world of the undetermined. They are a kind of metaphor.
- Odilon Redon


If you can't draw something, just draw it.
- Dieter Rot


I am among the few who continue to draw after childhood is ended, continuing and perfecting childhood drawing – without the traditional interruption of academic training.
- Saul Steinberg

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Quotes from Pascal Campion, Master Illustrator-Animator:

If you do want to get better, if you really want to find your own style, and start having fun with your art, it is all about actually DRAWING! And drawing in your sketchbook, everyday, is really the first step you need to do.

The second one is SHOW YOUR SKETCHES! I know it's scary to show your personal work because, in a way, you feel like you are exposing yourself to people, and the fear of judgment is a terrible feeling. But you'll be surprised to find out that people will react favorably, and will give you feedback that you NEED to grow as a artist.

Additionally, the more you draw and the more you share your work, the more you will inspire your peers and people around you, and the more motivated you'll get.

Lastly....art and talent is not a gift from god. I don't subscribe at all to this point of view. The art of drawing is purely mechanical. The more you practice, the better you get. There's no secret involved, no formulas, no crutch. If you want to become an artist...DRAW! Don't look for formulas and shortcuts.

And enjoy your life, have tons of experiences, and draw from them to create your own art.

Finally, LOVE what you do. Have fun doing it. Remember why you like art...if it's for the stories, the emotions, or just the technical aspect of it.. always remember what you like and go for it.

It's too easy to get lost by learning all these different techniques and tricks. You're only going to use a few anyhow to do what you want to do, and chances are, you'll have to create them yourself in order to accomplish YOUR vision.

Don't wait for someone to give you the go ahead to do something. Just do it. I know it's cliché, but I've met so many great artist that never do anything else BUT the work they are commissioned to do because they feel like they are not giving the right opportunity. I don't believe anybody is ever going to give it to you, you just have to go and do it If you want to do a short film, make the time for it, if you want to do a graphic novel, take the time to do it.

The sooner, the better!!

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“The beauty of being able to draw, or paint, from an early age is that you never feel trapped, least of all by your immediate circumstances.”
–Bill Blass