The Dog and the Tinderbox

I've been thinking a lot about the practice of drawing lately... realising how narrow my own concept of drawing is, and questioning it roundly.
As part of that I've been reading heaps and absorbing images and information,like the fish that I am.

I draw for several reasons,(probably more, but two main reasons spring to mind) the first is to map out an idea (so this is one of the definitions of drawing for me) - loosely, quickly and with an immediacy that hopes to trap the idea and fix it to the paper before it's lost. I seldom complete these drawings and often their value to me is fleeting. (Why does this drive mothers mad? Mine used to retrieve all my scraps and press them smooth!)
I also draw to render an image as finished art and my practice as an illustrator has defined my understanding of 'finished' as being ready for publication or release, amongst other things. (This is a fish hook for me - and I guess I'm trying to get to the bottom of it, to toss out some old precepts and develop a new broader understanding). This is the area of drawing that interests me at the moment, though not in reference to illustration. I'm focussing on both the artwork itsself and the process by which it's made; which I'm exploring with eyes the size of dinner plates, like the biggest dog on the treasure chest.

What do I mean by that odd word finished? (And for that matter, by what set of definitions do other artists define their drawing practice?) For example 'erasers are verboten' is one that belongs to my studio mate Steve.
Why do I constrain what I do this way?
What constitutes a drawing and how can marks on a jotter pad in an art shop be a collaborative drawing (of course they are but ...?)

Browsing around some artists blog sites tonight I came across this link to an exhibition of 'trees drawing' (yes that's right - trees).

As part of exploring drawing I've been reading about the figurative drawing of Ralph Hotere (an emminent and prolific New Zealand artist) and poring over the beauty of his expressive irregular line, the simplicity and the elloquence of it. I found this lovely description in the chapter titled 'Woman (1962 -1964) The early works', which I shared today with a friend, so I'll add it here as part of my thinking around this.

" ... Since he has lived in Carey's Bay, Dunedin Hotere has had a favourite tree at the end of his garden. He will often take a small section of shed twigs, in lengths of approximately 300 -400 millimeters, carefully testing each one for it's flexibility and rejecting those that do not quite suit his purpose. He will then cut the tip and break the wood up by mashing it so that the end becomes fibrous, working it until it's exactly as he wants. His method of applying the paint from this point, for both the figurative images and the abstract works is quite meditative. With the figure drawings he will start with a blank piece of paper laid flat on a table, pick up the drawing instrument and after some minutes of looking at the model, draw in the air above the surface of the paper and then, returning to look at the model, trace her outline in the air. He will repeat this process at least twice before committing a mark to the paper. The pauses and periods of time spent carefully assessing the figure can take anywhere from five to ten minutes. He will then finally look down at the paper, draw in the air above it one last time and very rapidly and intuitively draw the figure in the space of a few breaths. It is a process almost like a dance, with the image pouring onto the paper.
This is the same method he uses for the abstract works. Before applying paint, ink, or graphite to a surface there are always these long meditative pauses followed by a series of rapid movements. Each long drip of white paint, every skeinlike fleck and every contour of the figure is carefully balanced in his mind before it is resolved on the ground of the image."

From 'The Desire of the Line' Ralph Hotere Figurative Works by Kriselle Baker published by Auckland University Press

And the amazing thing to me is the freshess and sensuality that he captures in his drawings - they fairly drip with it !