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==Article Transcript==
Three-quarters of a century! That’s what our faithful
Sears-Roebuck solar-powered electronic calculator
tells us. Prominently displayed in my home
on the dining room buffet is a colorful line-up of
birthday greeting cards, sent by my brother in
Texas, my sisters in Illinois and New York, and our
family’s life insurance agent right here in Michigan.
Silently they testify that the small hand-held
device, with its rows of tiny push-buttons and its
miniature LED screen, is operating with accuracy.
Yet it is the contact we have with loved ones that
means so much. My three siblings are all in their
eighties; they have keen memories of events and
activities in which I was a participant, but of which
I had no awareness. Diaper changes, for example.

Only in one’s dreams, or perhaps in the plot of a
Grade B pre-World-War-Two Hollywood production,
would the following event take place:

It was becoming apparent that I could no longer
manage the stairway down to my “artist’s studio.”
Once in the basement, making my way up to the
main floor was extremely difficult. With the help
of our son Tim, we cleared out a bedroom and
transformed it into the room we call “the office.”
We made space for my desk, storage shelves,
and cabinets in which to keep my art supplies,
books, and videotapes. At first, everything was
in a jumble. Weeks went by before I was able to
organize my drawing paper. But then the magical
event took place. Deep down between the layers
of watercolor paper, 11-by-17 cover stock, and
drawing paper in a variety of sizes, there lay my
first sketchbook.

There are still a few blank pages in that sketchbook,
but for the most part, the pages were well
used. I counted heads of 110 cartoon characters,
a great number of them chubby, balding fellows.
These pencil drawings were practice pieces,
learning activities that made use of the procedures
advocated by the cartoonist Andrew Loomis. A
World War I veteran, Loomis produced commercial
art for his entire career. He taught cartooning
at the Art Institute of Chicago, and authored a series
of “how to draw” books which were immensely
popular and made a lasting impression on the
artists who came after him.
Mr. Loomis’ book contains 120 pages, 8-by-11
in size. The steps that the artist should take are
printed in blue and numbered. In drawing a head,
Loomis starts with a ball and adds small circular
shapes which will become nose, ears, chin,
cheeks, etc. These are arranged on guidelines
which are drawn like an equator on a globe, and
like meridians stretching from pole-to-pole. The
light blue guidelines, of course, are darkened with
a black pencil or ink as the drawing is completed.
There was no need to erase these construction
lines because the old reproduction systems did
not “see” light blue.

The process of drawing heads is just
the beginning. Loomis goes on to
show us simple methods of creating
very active bodies, dressing them
in suitable clothing, and expressing
themselves with all kinds of emotions.
He gives a lot of attention to
perspective, shading, and well-drawn
hands and feet. Loomis published
his book, “Fun With A Pencil,” in
1939. By the time I received my
copy as a 1957 Christmas gift from
my brother and his wife, Loomis had
already gone through 13 printings.

The sketches I have included as
illustrations for this article were
drawn during our closing years of
college, when my bride-to-be and I
were 22. I sketched her looking out
of my dormitory window, enjoying the
view across the campus. Since then,
I have added quite a few “how-todraw”
books to my collection; they
are all useful, but it was the book by
Andy Loomis that helped me most to
enjoy cartooning and led me eventually
to caricaturing.

''Have a question or idea for Lee’s next column? Email him at LandL1937@comcast.net.''

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TheChairman: Created page with "==Article Transcript== Three-quarters of a century! That’s what our faithful Sears-Roebuck solar-powered electronic calculator tells us. Prominently displayed in my home on..."