To draw after another painter. A drawing done after artist X’s “Artwork Y.” To render, in a different medium, the work of another artist. The act of copying, no; imitating, not quite; studying, perhaps. Is this a new piece of art? Or do I owe every line to the artist who created the thing before me? Are my sketches nothing more than a catalogue of buildings, streets, and sidewalks only made possible by the hundreds of architects, city planners, construction workers, and laborers who actually made what I am merely perceiving?
All my drawings are after another person’s labor. The nature of drawing from direct observation is to come after.