Andrew Swift

Mr. Swifts’s adoption of a Greek aphorism meaning “skillfulness takes time and life is short,” reflects his lifelong interest in the daily practice of sketching subjects from direct observation and memory.

The goal of his daily practice is to understand a subject through observation and translation to work on paper as accurately and efficiently as possible.

This collection reveals Andrew’s interest in specific themes of visual storytelling, calligraphy, map-making, illustration, fossils, anatomy, zoology, engraving, manmade artifacts, and above all, a fascination with the natural world.

The work displayed was drawn directly and in an additive manner without preliminary sketches or the use of erasers, in a single sitting, and usually not reworked later.

The work displayed was drawn directly or from memory and in an additive manner without preliminary sketches or the use of erasers, in a single sitting, and usually not reworked later.