<p>Many years ago when Robert used to create quick pencil sketches at his stiudio on the Barbican, I&nbsp;was fascinated by the way he drew 'eyes'.&nbsp;I remember asking him to show me how to draw 'an eye'.He showed me very quickly. I remember it being very dewey with soft pencil strokes to create form and shadows. Robert was interested in many artists but I remember one of his favourite painters was that of the French painter, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres. He admired Ingres for his use of line and I remember him showing me a family portrait that Ingres had drawn with such fluidity and prescision out of graphite pencil.</p><p>The use of line in drawing was always very important for Robert. He was also fascinated by the way Ingres 'distorted' the bodies of his models. If you look at <em>La Grande Odalisque</em> you will notice the elongated neck, back and arms.</p><p>This sense of distortion fascinated Robert. It would be interesting to go through his works&nbsp;looking for influences of the&nbsp;art of&nbsp;Ingres.</p><p>My first memory of art lessons by Robert&nbsp;were at his studio where he set down the sphere, cube and cylinder for me to paint in black and white. They were all covered in white cloth to encourage me to paint the shadows and tones.&nbsp;Later, he encouraged me to paint self portraits. I started with pencil then&nbsp;black and white acrylic&nbsp;and worked up to using oil. Even so, I don't think this was my calling in terms of subject matter. My main interest at the time was that of landscape and still life. He often sent me off to paint, trees and flowers. I learnt alot from this and enjoyed it a great deal. As with&nbsp;the other students, Robert encouraged me to use 'tone of the tone', 'colour of the colour' and 'shape of the shape.'&nbsp;I found this rule useful.&nbsp;It encouraged&nbsp;me to be disciplined.&nbsp;</p><p>The first art book Robert gave me for my birthday when I was quite young&nbsp;was by Chagall. Robert loved Chagall and I remember he wrote on the first page: &quot;Look carefully at the pictures, Alice. They are a Secret World, like inside your head.'</p><p>Robert later encouraged me to paint from my imagination. He once let me use his house as a studio. I stayed there alone for a few weeks. It was lovely, very quiet and I remember the ivy glowing very green through the windows. I painted throughout the day, creating&nbsp;some very soft blue paintings.&nbsp;I still have two of them. One of them is on my wall as I write this. During this time, Robert was teaching me to blend colour in a very&nbsp;carerful way so that the gradations were subtle.&nbsp;Robert's teaching has never ceased to inspire me with my own creative work.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Alice Lenkiewicz</p><p>&nbsp;</p>