"You have to make thousands and thousands of drawings before an illustration is perfected"
About this Quote
Perfection, in MacDonald’s world, isn’t a lightning-bolt of inspiration; it’s an endurance sport. “Thousands and thousands” is deliberately excessive, almost muscular in its insistence, pushing back on the romantic myth that art arrives fully formed. Coming from a sculptor - an artist associated with solidity, weight, and finish - the line lands as a quiet confession: the polished bronze or marble that reads as effortless is built on a mountain of discarded attempts.
The specific intent is equal parts instruction and demystification. MacDonald is talking about craft in its most unglamorous form: repetition, failure, refinement. Drawings here aren’t just preparatory sketches; they’re a laboratory. Each one tests proportion, gesture, tension, and balance - the invisible physics of a body that will eventually be frozen in three dimensions. By the time the sculpture looks “natural,” it has been engineered.
The subtext is also a rebuke to shortcut culture. In an era that prizes speed, output, and instant personal branding, “thousands and thousands” insists that mastery has a tempo you can’t hack. It’s not even motivational so much as corrective: if you’re frustrated by how long it takes, good. That frustration is evidence you’re doing the job.
Contextually, this fits a sculptor known for figurative work, where tiny inaccuracies read as uncanny or false. The quote frames perfection not as taste, but as accumulated, disciplined seeing - the ability to notice what most people miss, earned one drawing at a time.
The specific intent is equal parts instruction and demystification. MacDonald is talking about craft in its most unglamorous form: repetition, failure, refinement. Drawings here aren’t just preparatory sketches; they’re a laboratory. Each one tests proportion, gesture, tension, and balance - the invisible physics of a body that will eventually be frozen in three dimensions. By the time the sculpture looks “natural,” it has been engineered.
The subtext is also a rebuke to shortcut culture. In an era that prizes speed, output, and instant personal branding, “thousands and thousands” insists that mastery has a tempo you can’t hack. It’s not even motivational so much as corrective: if you’re frustrated by how long it takes, good. That frustration is evidence you’re doing the job.
Contextually, this fits a sculptor known for figurative work, where tiny inaccuracies read as uncanny or false. The quote frames perfection not as taste, but as accumulated, disciplined seeing - the ability to notice what most people miss, earned one drawing at a time.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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