Re: Who doesn't like kind words? (Score: 1)
posted Tuesday, June 10, 2008 - 11:38 PM (
#43239)
Dave's genius is in his draftsmanship (he spells it, correctly "draught" but I am lazy and generally take spell check's recommendations).
What appear to be simple line drawings in black and white are harder to make work than complicated, full frames. There is nothing to hide behind, no distractions. Like Shaker furniture, the seeming simplicity in his characters' drawings is his strength. Personally, I cannot draw a stick-figure man but I recognize that which looks easy but most decidedly is not. Without a lot of other stuff in the frame, you have to have your draughtmanship (OK, I caved) spot on, and your joke or subject matter has to be clear. With so few lines in the frame it all has to be pretty near ideal to pull it off. That Dave does this day in and day out is amazing. Schultz and McManus were also masters of this art form. The deceptively simple-appearing cartoon strip.
Then there is the whole "coming up with good ideas for the strip" business. For long-running strips this also amazes me. Watterson ran out of material, burned out and quit. Schultz just kept on going and going like the battery bunny. So has Dave.
That my English as a Second Language (ESL) students get his jokes and ideas so easily speaks to Dave's mastery.
People with such talents impress me no end.
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Black holes are where God divided by zero.