Drawing, for me, has mostly been ancillary to painting. However, I did a number of large drawings in the '80's that were independent--they stood on their own--an end in and of themselves. Despite the fact that drawing often leads me to a painting, I do love to draw. I find that formulating a concept through initial sketches and the gradual evolution of visual constructs are some of my most cherished moments. When I begin a drawing I always have a central image in mind with the other elements rallying around this central focal point. On beginning a composition, I often feel like a blind person: awkward, groping and shy....shy of the paper and pencil...inevitably, after a period of time, I begin to warm to my materials, the lack of clarity and awkwardness disappear and I truly grasp the essence of what I'm trying to achieve, feeling very naturally, the movement of imagery through my pencil. This is when drawing gets electric, graceful and exciting. To me, the movement of the pencil on paper, at this stage, is like music--capturing the weight of the line and the rhythm of its movement. I find this metamorphosis fascinating, almost like a continual miracle: going from estrangement to familiarity. My drawings go through many stages to reach the emphasis and impact I'm looking for. There are tweaks and erasures, from obliterating large areas to tiny interchanges. I see these sketches as exercises in interchange--traversing from one element to the next and the emphasis on line, the weight and heft of a line. I am far more interested in line than tonal values.