Once upon a time, a single line drawing could dominate a full page of the New York Times.
They took a pen and ink drawing by the great Ronald Searle, enlarged it several times and cleared the decks. The result was the most compelling page in the entire newspaper on March 1, 1970. Probably the whole month of March.
What art director today has the courage to rely on a line drawing to fill such a role? What illustrator today has the talent to fill such a role?
Searle was such a pro– look at the way he claims that real estate. He confidently captures the height by stretching those legs, one flung high and one flung low. All he needed was a single crude line. He captures the width with a long cane on one side and flapping coattails on the other side. He’s in full command, and no one could dare push back against his use of that space.
Fearless!
