Thoughts On Line
The other day I was talking with Michael about line quality in drawings. Just a normal day for two married cartoonists.
There are many types of cartoons—or as The New Yorker has always called them—drawings. My favorite kind are the ones in which you can feel the person behind the drawing, in the line. Oftentimes you can feel the artist in the type of humor. Sometimes it’s both.
My favorite artists like this, i.e. ones whose line work is expressive in the way I just describe, are James Thurber, William Steig and JJ Sempe. Here are just a few examples— you can google image them to see more, there are so many wonderful ones.
James Thurber:
Jean-Jaques Sempe:
William Steig:
Thurber’s drawings stayed pretty much the same during his drawing career, and Sempe’s did as well, I believe. But Steig switched his way of drawing at some point in his time at The New Yorker, maybe in the 1970’s. He used to draw heavier lines, often with captions, and the work was less “poetic” in approach. Art Editor Lee Lorenz calls these later drawings “personal.”
I love these three artists! I have been aware of all three all my life.
Starting to draw as a young girl, my way of drawing just became, evolving a bit over time. Now I consciously am attempting to be more aware of the connection between my emotion and the line as I draw; any kind of “joke” is less interesting to me at this point in time. I want to communicate with the line.
That’s not to say I don’t want to make you smile! I still do. It’s trying to find that fine line (haha) between just a joke and speaking through a line.
But then of course there are political cartoons, a whole different animal in some ways. Maybe I’ll write about that soon.
Just some thoughts on drawing for today. Hope you are enjoying your Saturday, thanks for being here. See you tomorrow!
They are all simple and simply outstanding. I especially love Sempe's Reflections. It's the idea behind it, plus the execution. Steig's unconfined dancers are brilliant; I hear the music. When I was a sprout, I read and reread Thurber's The 13 Clocks. Steig's dog's intense stare at the subject as he is about to set brush to canvas is palpable. Thanks, Liza, for sharing.
I so love the one you showed by William Steig - when I was a boy, we got Saturday Evening Post and a couple more I can't remember. I couldn't wait to see the drawings, thanks so much for doing this today.