Reformed Crosshatcher

In another century, when print was king, my great ambition was to become the best crosshatcher since R. Crumb, if not Thomas Nast. I plugged away for over a dozen years (my misspent youth!), but, let’s face it, I had bitten off more than I could ever chew, artistically.

Not one to settle for being just another ink-stained wretch, I set my sights on developing a cartooning style that would look more forward to the 21st century than back to the 19th. I began by dropping buckets of color in between tight pen-and-ink lines, and I went on to experiment with more than a few photoshop techniques and tricks. What followed were several years of struggle during which I produced too many lifeless, overworked images devoid of all charm. “The best drawings have the perfect balance between spontaneous gesture and control” a voice inside my head would pester and nag to no avail.

I was stubborn. I could not conceive of giving up control until, regrettably, the task of inking over pencil sketches on paper had become just that – a dreary task. I grew to resent the inking hours of my days. Finally, a moment came when I had to agree with an art director who observed that my rough sketches and pencil drawings were more fun to look at than my finished art.

So, early in 2016, I packed up my pens, emptied my bottles, and abandoned ink. Never drawing the same line twice, I would now scan my pencil drawings and then splash on color with photoshop brushes, mimicking my favorite watercolor painting techniques. Gradually, I found a looser more confident style better suited to a world of digital displays, and, maybe, just maybe, if I keep plugging away, I’ll one day achieve that perfect balance of gesture and control.