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When I see a white piece of paper, I feel I've got to draw. And drawing, for me, is the beginning of everything.
Ellsworth Kelly
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Interpretation

What this quote means

The act of drawing is essential to creativity and expression.

Ellsworth Kelly emphasizes the importance of drawing as a foundational aspect of artistic creation. He perceives a blank canvas as an opportunity to bring ideas to life, suggesting that the act of creating something from nothing is a powerful and transformative experience.

Themes

DrawingCreativityArtExpressionCreation

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote during an art class to inspire students to explore their creativity.

More from Ellsworth Kelly

Everything that I saw became something to be made, and it had to be exactly as it was, with nothing added. It was a new freedom: there was no longer the need to compose. The subject was there already made, and I could take from everything. It all belonged to me: a glass roof of a factory, with its broken and patched panels, lines on a road map, a corner of a Braque painting, paper fragments in the street. It was all the same: anything goes.
Ellsworth KellyRead

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