“Drawing is the most direct, closest to the true self, the most natural liberation of man.”

— David Smith

David Smith (1906–1965). Cockfight Variation 2, 1945. Ink, wash, and pastel on paper, 63.5 x 50 cm. The Estate of David Smith. © Estate of David Smith / Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Smith believed fervently in the power and truth of drawings. He drew regularly throughout his career for many different reasons: to make notes, plan sculptures, jot down observations, explore techniques, relax, and make beautiful, independent works of art. His vast output of works on paper provide a telling record of his visual thought and experimentation and in themselves represent a great aesthetic accomplishment.

Smith was adamant about drawing every day, whether from photographs, his imagination, or from a model. His sketchbooks reveal that he drew inspiration from the most varied sources: natural history museum skeletons or stuffed animals, country landscapes and city perspectives, nudes, newspaper photographs, Near Eastern seals, hieroglyphs, machinery, medical book illustrations, newspaper stories, and classical philosophy.

Smith’s drawings and sculptures were frequently related. Drawing was essential because its smaller scale allowed him the freedom to experiment with numerous ideas, some of which were later incorporated into sculptural form. Drawing allowed Smith to work quickly and make changes in contrast to the laborious and time consuming process of large-scale welded sculpture.

In the drawing Cockfight Variation 2, we see Smith’s conception of the action and violence found in a fight between two roosters. Smith recalls, “It so happened that I had a small drawing in my book on Cockfight. One day I picked up a piece of metal that had been cut from another sculpture. Its grace and rhythm suggested my drawing. I don’t go to cockfights but fighting roosters are raised by my friends in the hills and meets are regularly held near Saratoga.” Here we see Smith’s exploratory drawings, experience, and sensitivity to materials coming together to transform the initial drawing into a three-dimensional work. It is this dialogue between mediums that makes clear his conviction that every step of the artist’s activity—a work stream, as he called it— expresses an inherent part of his artistic vision.

• Without knowing the title of this drawing describe it as fully as possible. What adjectives come to mind? What title would you give to this drawing?
• Compare this drawing to Smith’s sculptural rendition of the same subject. What aspects of the drawing are incorporated into the sculpture? What components of the drawing are not apparent in the sculptural version?
• Which version of this subject do you think is more successful? Why?

• Imagine that this drawing comes to life. What would it look like five minutes after it is animated? Using a tracing paper overlay, or by importing this drawing into a layer in PhotoShop® on a computer, draw a new version that reflects how you think the action might progress.
  Technology


• Choose another subject that contains lots of action. Create a drawing that captures the quality of the movement. Using the experience of making the drawing, create a sculpture in any medium (clay, thin cardboard, Styrofoam, copper foil, wire, etc.) that suggests the same energy. Do not copy the drawing, but rather use the experience of drawing to inform how you approach making the sculpture. When you are done compare the two works and the relationship between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional versions.
  Visual Arts


• Smith was not happy with his first sculpture that used the subject of a cockfight. He stated, “When it was finished I found it in no way was related to the cubic structure which my drawing originally had. So still having interest in the subject as I had conceived it, I went ahead and did another cockfight based on the drawing and called #2 Cockfight Variation.”
  Visual Arts


• If you were to do another sculpture with the same theme as above, how would you change it? Why would you change it?
  


• Smith stated that, “I truly believe that anything anyone has seen he can draw . . . and that all that stands between his drawing anything in the world is his own inhibition. . . . [It is] more the mental block that keeps him from trying that which he deems impossible.” Do you agree or disagree with Smith’s belief that everyone can draw? Explain.
  Visual Arts