Seren |

This was drawn back in the 1980’s when I was renting a room from an editor who is long gone from the business. I was only making a few hundred bucks a month at one point, so she would use the company credit card to buy me dinner once in awhile in exchange for original art. I guess, technically, the art would have belonged to the company since they were paying for it, but she kept it all. This was one of the few drawings from that time that I actually got to save for myself.

I was upset that the editor never let me get copies of the art. I found out later someone was circulating copies and selling them, which was kind of irritating. It was also kind of irritating that the editor would want these elaborate drawings for the equivalent of about $10 in food, and then the next day complain I was getting behind on my assignments.

It’s kind of funny in retrospect. But not really.

5 Comments

Colleen

July 1, 2015 at 6:47 pm

Also, I’m pretty sure I was looking at some magazine ad when I drew this. If I could remember what it was, I’d tell you.

kjc

July 1, 2015 at 9:56 pm

You made some beautiful art in awful circumstances. It must feel good to reclaim drawings like this now.

Colleen

July 2, 2015 at 3:29 pm

That is a wonderful way to put it. Thank you.

Stewart Vernon

July 4, 2015 at 4:36 am

That’s almost like something out of a fairy tale… and no, I’m not making fun… I mean, if you told the story of a young woman who could barely afford to get by and was forced to do extra chores for her evil stepmother, but one day finally was recognized for the talent she had and able to escape her chains… well, that’d be a pretty good story… as long as it wasn’t semi-based on something real. But then, I guess in some ways a lot of fairy tales were based on cautionary tales from bad experiences. I’m rambling now, but these stories… you share from time to time, it’s unreal for one person to have to go through it all.