Draw a Writing / Write a Drawing

This is my personal "theory and practice" for drawing abstract line art.

1) Writing is a form of drawing.

All of us have "drawn" writings. It happened when we first learnt to lay down the strokes of an unfamiliar handwriting. The scenario can be a child learning to write A-B-C for the first time, or a Westerner learning to write Chinese or Kanji characters.

2) Drawing is a form of writing.

All of us have also "written" drawings. We call them stick figures. The convention is simple. The head is drawn as a circle. Body, arms and legs are simple straight lines.

3) The Theory

Drawing stick figures is no different from writing A-B-C.

To "write" more elaborate drawings, we need more "writing parts" - besides circles and straight lines, and be adventurous in how to put these parts together.

Just as we are capable of learning A-B-C and drawing stick figures, (my theory says) all of us are also capable of creating complex abstract line art - by treating it as a form of writing.

4) In Practice

Based on this theory, I have been experimenting with drawings that I collectively refer to as the The 10,000 Page Colouring Book. Through the experimentation process, I began to establish a set of frequently used "writing parts".