My inspirations folder

I keep a folder on my desktop of images which caught my eye while doing online research for my regular editorial cartoons. Once in a while I’ll look through that folder, especially when I’m struggling, just to shake the creative cobwebs loose. Here’s one of my favorites, a New Yorker cover from 1952:

(Leonard Dove, The New Yorker)

There’s so many things I love- the wonderful looseness, the use of limited color, and the simpleness of the composition even though there’s lots of detail in the drawing. Notice how the cigarette smoke hanging in the air starts from the left and creates an s-shape which continues into the similarly shaped desks and then draws your eye down the row towards the lone female reporter. There’s the small but important detail of the fashion show catalog, which explains why she’s dressed to the nines.

And I love that cigarette dangling from her mouth. The fact she’s covering a fashion event reflects the times but it’s another detail which gives a hopeful hint to the future when there are more women in the newsroom.