Well, I was planning on drawing a bunch tonight, but like I often do, I got side-tracked by a bunch of other people’s drawings. Mostly I find links to artist portfolios reading through the links on K10K. That is where I saw a link for Quentin Blake, and a show that will be up through the end of the month in London. I met Blake (not in person) through the books he illustrated for Roald Dahl, starting, I believe, with The Twits. His characters have such a wonderful… well, character. So simple: pen and ink and a little bit of wash or watercolor. He is definitely an influence on my own drawings.

Then, on a different site, I found a more obvious influence. Also simple, pen and ink drawings: Shel Silverstein gave such a wonderful spirit to his poetry and stories. His work inspired me to create Cereal & Milk, and I don’t doubt that his work contributed in making me into the Sensitive Man ™ that I am today. I mean, how can you not get choked up at the tragedy of The Giving Tree?

As I have been trying to figure out a style to adopt for my latest project, I find myself trying to imagine these complicated images with textures and layers. But maybe what I really need to do is stick to what I know: simple pencil or pen drawings. A little splash of color and it’s done! We’ll see where it goes, but I suspect the simpler, the better.

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