Was it Linus or Charlie Brown who was told that he was revealing his insecurities through the body language in his drawings of people with hands behind their backs? He said that, no, it was just that he couldn’t draw hands.
I like Nancy’s self-portrait in panel 2.She apparently is more talented with paint than pencil, as witness the following self-portrait from an alternate reality… but notice that she still avoids portraying hands…
A friend showed me a 50s humor comic (MAD imitation) where, in one story, the artist was determinedly avoiding drawing the characters’ faces at all. It was a take-off on some Tennessee Williams play, and it’s pretty clear he had no clue how to draw Eli Wallach and Shirley Booth, or whoever the stars were. He’d put things in front of their faces (from bowls of liquor to speech balloons) and cut the heads off at the top of the panel or draw them from the back.
On the one hand, I had to admire the dogged persistence of the avoidance bit. On the other hand, the guy couldn’t draw for Shinola. I was briefly hopeful that the story would turn up in The Sincerest Form of Parody, but it seems the pool of MAD fakes was deep enough they didn’t feel obliged to run something that bad. Pity, actually. The stories they did include were of a generally tepid sort. Something this plain awful would have made some of the rest look marginally better.
When I was in college for animation, we had Bill Plympton come in as a visiting artist for a week. I remember one lecture he gave devolved into a bit of a rant on how lazy cartoonists and animators get with drawing hands. He then showed us many clips showcasing his own superior hand-drawing skills. Over the course of the week, I began to think of Bill as quite pompous and full of himself, but I will say, he did convince me to take the time to learn how to draw hands well, and to this day I find a lot of pleasure in fitting a good solid depiction of a hand into whatever I’m drawing :D
the Silver Age comic book artist Gil Kane, who was obsessed with showing flailing open nostrils of his characters, was somehow scooped out of time to draw the NANCY strip to-day, the result might be…uh, interesting.
ChrisGibson1 over 5 years ago
She’s right, you know. Goya charged extra for hands.
Argythree over 5 years ago
LOL!!!
some idiot from R'lyeh Premium Member over 5 years ago
Nancy is not the only problem solver associated with this strip.
Spike over 5 years ago
Didn’t Adam Smith write about this?
LoisG Premium Member over 5 years ago
How to draw pictures with detail and color, even when you’re an old woman who has never had official training in art -
GRANDMA MOSES – THE QUILTING BEEhttps://www.wikiart.org/en/grandma-moses/the-quilting-bee
asrialfeeple over 5 years ago
I seems this strip is going for the hands off approach.
cubswin2016 over 5 years ago
Short cuts are lazy.
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 5 years ago
Is there a subliminal message in today’s strip? Or is it just plain luminal?
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 5 years ago
Was it Linus or Charlie Brown who was told that he was revealing his insecurities through the body language in his drawings of people with hands behind their backs? He said that, no, it was just that he couldn’t draw hands.
And sometimes a cigar is just Occam’s razor.
gutbloom over 5 years ago
Is that a Nancy self portrait in the second panel? I like the hair spikes as lion mane/halo effect.
jrankin1959 over 5 years ago
Never mind Adam Smith – that’s a heckuva turnaround from yesterday’s comment about the way hands are drawn.
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 5 years ago
I like Nancy’s self-portrait in panel 2.She apparently is more talented with paint than pencil, as witness the following self-portrait from an alternate reality… but notice that she still avoids portraying hands…
4.bp.blogspot.com/-_WBdj8Zyuaw/Tj7uztst3SI/AAAAAAAACR8/FMk9KMbvPRE/s1600/nancy%2Bcomic.jpg
jimmjonzz Premium Member over 5 years ago
What I love everyday about Nancy is that it is so simple αηⅾ ƴ℮т ṧ☺μεℌ◎ω м@ᾔα❡ℯṧ т☺ ¢øᾔ√℮⑂ ṧʊ¢н яḯ¢ℌᾔεṧ﹩ ‼
WCraft Premium Member over 5 years ago
Just draw mitten hands
Rolf Rykken Premium Member over 5 years ago
Olivia is having a good time : )
Kip W over 5 years ago
A friend showed me a 50s humor comic (MAD imitation) where, in one story, the artist was determinedly avoiding drawing the characters’ faces at all. It was a take-off on some Tennessee Williams play, and it’s pretty clear he had no clue how to draw Eli Wallach and Shirley Booth, or whoever the stars were. He’d put things in front of their faces (from bowls of liquor to speech balloons) and cut the heads off at the top of the panel or draw them from the back.
On the one hand, I had to admire the dogged persistence of the avoidance bit. On the other hand, the guy couldn’t draw for Shinola. I was briefly hopeful that the story would turn up in The Sincerest Form of Parody, but it seems the pool of MAD fakes was deep enough they didn’t feel obliged to run something that bad. Pity, actually. The stories they did include were of a generally tepid sort. Something this plain awful would have made some of the rest look marginally better.
DCBakerEsq over 5 years ago
I always draw them with extra digits for dramatic effect.
Pipe Tobacco Premium Member over 5 years ago
8
Beautifully done.
jless over 5 years ago
So you don’t use your hands to draw? Olivia?
heathcliff2 over 5 years ago
Ingenuity can help to solve many questions and problems said to be unsolvable.
Not the Smartest Man On the Planet -- Maybe Close Premium Member over 5 years ago
I laughed out loud. (But I’m not showing it ‘cause it’s too hard to draw faces.)
bobdingus over 5 years ago
Derrin Bell over at Candorville has the same problem.
Lassmaster over 5 years ago
I love everything about today’s comic. the pencil pointing up from the bottom of panel 2… Nancy’s self-portrait… Agnes’ terrible advice… so good.
Lassmaster over 5 years ago
When I was in college for animation, we had Bill Plympton come in as a visiting artist for a week. I remember one lecture he gave devolved into a bit of a rant on how lazy cartoonists and animators get with drawing hands. He then showed us many clips showcasing his own superior hand-drawing skills. Over the course of the week, I began to think of Bill as quite pompous and full of himself, but I will say, he did convince me to take the time to learn how to draw hands well, and to this day I find a lot of pleasure in fitting a good solid depiction of a hand into whatever I’m drawing :D
Kate Ashwin Premium Member over 5 years ago
oh my god, she knows
jemimacole over 5 years ago
Nancy’s self portrait has 46 hair spikes. [chef’s kiss]
InquireWithin over 5 years ago
It’s better to give a hand up than a hand out, or something like that
Obi-Haiv over 5 years ago
I think Stephan Pastis has the same issue, which is why the hands always look thin and stick-figure-y.
wllilly1960 over 5 years ago
…If…
wllilly1960 over 5 years ago
the Silver Age comic book artist Gil Kane, who was obsessed with showing flailing open nostrils of his characters, was somehow scooped out of time to draw the NANCY strip to-day, the result might be…uh, interesting.
clayface9 Premium Member over 5 years ago
Feet are hard to draw, too. Just ask Rob Liefeld.