Moore on drawing ideas

Henry Moore (1898-1986), the English artist perhaps best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures also produced many drawings. Talking about the difference between drawing and carving, Moore says that there's a connection between his drawings and his sculpture: 'Drawing lessens the danger of repeating oneself and getting into a formula. It enlarges one's form of repertoire, one's form experience. But in my sculpture, I do not draw directly upon the memory or observation of a particular object, but rather use whatever comes up from my general fund of knowledge of natural forms'. Referring to drawings, in his notebooks and sketchbooks, he describes them as 'tryouts of possible ideas for sculpture, or just scribbles in which one hopes that some new ideas might come'. As to using drawing as a means of generating ideas, Moore says: 'Sometimes you would sit down with no idea at all, and at some point you'd see something in the doodling, scribbling - whatever you call it; and from then on you could evolve the idea ... or, in another way of doing it, one would start off with a definite idea ... you would give yourself a theme and let the variations come'. Here, Moore expresses ways of ideating that would apply to design more generally. Source: James, P. ed. (1966). Henry Moore on Sculpture. London: Macdonald & Co.