Drawing has always been my first love. When I went to the National Art School (then called East Sydney Technical College) at the age of 17, I was disappointed that I had to choose another medium to concentrate on. I wasn’t sure I wanted to sculpt or paint. I chose printmaking, thinking it was a close cousin of drawing.

During the holidays a fellow student and I discovered the paintings of van Gogh and Cezanne. We pored over books of their work. We painted and talked painting the whole summer. When I went back to school I begged them to let me change from printmaking to painting and they let me. But it was wonderful to have done a year of printmaking — it gave me a passion for prints, particularly etchings, and is still part of my practice today. 

Q&A with John Bokor, SL Magazine, Autumn 2015

These days I draw as much as I can. I have many sketchbooks going at the same time with different sizes and types of paper, some for landscapes and others for life drawing. I also like to do larger drawings on loose sheets of paper, which are as detailed and involved as a painting of the same size. 

Q&A with John Bokor, SL Magazine, Autumn 2015

I like to draw in my home and studio, and around the suburban streets where I live. But I also enjoy drawing the busy landscapes of the city.

I am very proud to have some of my works in public collections around the country. It is nice to think that some of my paintings and drawings are being kept as examples of what was produced by artists in Australia during this period.

I would like to see the drawings of Lloyd Rees and the etchings of Sydney by John Shirlow.

When artist John Bokor entered the Mitchell Library Reading Room two years ago he wanted to draw the space …