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| Value Study of old buildings |
Where does inspiration come from? Sitting in a class last weekend with Kristen Doty, a calligrapher and artist, I listened to her tell a story of a Japanese language book that she discovered in her dad's bookshelves. He had brought the book home from Japan after WWII. She was captivated by the kanji characters and went on to study Japanese. The book also became her gateway into calligraphy. She now teaches classes at workshops all over the country and in Europe.
Other members of the class explained how they became interested in calligraphy or other art pursuits. Several of them mentioned the Speedball Textbook, A Comprehensive Guide to Pen and Brush Lettering. That small book taught many lettering artists how to create beautiful lettering. The Speedball book was part of my family's collection too, along with a box of Speedball pen nibs. I spent hours trying each pen nib to practice different lettering styles I loved in the book.
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| 24th Edition of the Speedball Textbook |
I did the same with the two books of anatomy that I found in one of the drawers of my mother's desk. One was a fold-out book with each section showing a different part of the human body's structure: skin, muscles, nervous system, and organs. This thin booklet was my first exposure not only to the body's systems, but to a way of producing a book different than the normal binding. The other book showed drawings and photographs of the muscles, veins and nervous system, and also the human body at various stages through the decades. I was fascinated by how the body changed from infancy with its big head to old age and its enlarged features such as noses and ears.
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| Contour drawing of feet |
My family also collected autumn leaves and insects from our backyard. Studying the wings of the insects and tracing the leaves' veins taught me to focus on details of other objects as well. Mostly, though, I loved sitting in my dad's studio watching him work at one of his two drafting tables. He also set up a table for us to come and draw while he was working. My mom didn't have time to create a full-time studio in our home, but she had an easel in the den. She asked all of us daughters to pose for her. Posing for what seemed like hours gave me a chance to watch her start with charcoal sketches. She would then mix oil paints and applied them to the canvas until she had a finished portrait.
We were a comic book family and had a stack of books that my day collected of his favorite comic strip artists such as Milton Caniff who drew Terry and the Pirates, Dale Messick's Brenda Starr (my first exposure to a working woman in storybook form), and his own series, Minne Sue and Little Haha. He was drawn to comic strip artwork that used the same dynamic style that graphic novel artists use today, with a deep knowledge of anatomy, bold outlines, and actions portrayed on paper.
Watching both my parents draw encouraged me to do the same. It was part of our family's education along with reading, writing, and arithmetic. With this influence, I began to draw fashion designs, and while still in elementary school, I sent some to Bill Woggins for publication in one of his Katie Keene comic books. Woggins encouraged his readers to send in designs, and he gave credit to them all, whether the designs appeared in his strip or not. He would list designers with their addresses and asked them to become pen pals. Clever marketing at that time where security wasn't such an issue as it is today.
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| List of fashion designers for Katie Keene comic book. My name is highlighted |
Listening to Kristen Doty talk about what influenced her, reminded me of my own. I think of the families of doctors, construction workers, and entrepreneurs who can start out with a foundation in their professions because of their family background. All of us have had something that inspired us. What sparked your interest in your own life-long path?
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| Early drawings with a poem: Count your garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall, Count your days by the golden hours, don't remember clouds at all. Count your nights by stars, not shadows, Count your life by smiles, not tears, And with joy on every birthday, Count your age by friends, not years. (Dixie Willson, possible author) |
Read about Ralph Heimdahl and his work on Bugs Bunny here:
https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/ralph-heimdahl-a-collection-for-the-ages/
Check out this Milton Caniff collection:
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