"Call of the Wild"

Regular readers are already familiar with the "Nuggets Sketchbook" series that intermittently appear in lieu of the regular full-color feature. These are typically scanned direct from the pages of the omnipresent sketchbook, when the rare doodle can stand on its own without the usual stages of production (penciling + inking out on Bristol, then colored in Photoshop on the my studio desktop). Also just for the record I haven't yet (nor probably never will) see the Indians Jones version or even any of the classic ones either - just nostalgia and memories of the original book.

Articles and interviews with cartoonists from the classic days of yore are filled with tales documenting the obsessive lengths old-school draftsman would employ using a veritable grab-bag of trickery (for example blue-lines or lighboxes) to try and retain the original freshness, gestural spontaneity and vitality of line present in so many a preparatory sketch. Re-creating the concept sketch onto a new piece of paper and integrating with other compositional elements can be a challenge, or in my opinion, an impediment (just redraw it and move on). But there are the rare instances when I open up the sketchbook and look at the initial doodle and say, nope, that's good enough. Another way to say it is that sometimes it's all about the simple sublime surprise at what serendipitously spills out the other end of the pen when I'm not even really paying attention to it, just letting the process happen. And without even trying it turns into what in all likelihood will be one of my favorite pieces of the entire year.