You Draw Like A Girl

Graphite on Paper - 2013

In the late 1980's the short stories of mine that appeared in Weirdo were signed with my last name.

Aline Kominsky-Crumb told me that almost everyone thought that the work was made by a woman.

I think it was a combination of the drawing style and the fact that all of my main characters were women and girls. Aline agreed with this, I never asked Robert what he thought about it.
 
It struck me as a very narrow assumption for people to make, but I ran with it for as long as I could.

If you say so, so be it. Why should I question or correct the perception of the audience?

We both thought it was amusing that people thought this, so for a while I continued to only use my last name in comics. This was not the case in the world of illustration and fine art, but the three areas rarely cross paths, especially in those days.

Eventually Aline mentioned my full name in an interview in The Comics Journal, and the charade came to a close.

Sometimes I will give myself a problem to solve, like writing and drawing a story in the voice and manner of the character who is the narrator.

This is interesting and can be intriguing, especially if the narrator is unreliable.

Or drawing each character as though they drew themselves. Not only as they would see themselves, but how they would draw style wise based upon who and what and where they are.