Gonna have a short frenzy of posting here in the next few minutes. I finally got to scanning some stuff I'd been meaning to post, some for quite some time. First up, we have what will pass for political commentary around here. Two quick sketches of the late great J.J. "Jake" Pickle, Austin Texas' congressman for three decades and (among other notable deeds) one of six, count 'em SIX Southern congressmen to vote for the Civil Rights act of 1964. I knocked these out quickly in pencil from obituary photos in the Austin American Statesman and the Daily Texan.




I prefer the second one, with the larger face showing him laughing, even though the bridge of the nose area is pretty weird looking. I'm really happy with the forehead and mouth, though, and I think the quicker, more gestural strokes convey the emotion more clearly.

By way of contrast, there's this marker drawing of Edgar Ray Killen, the aptly named Klan leader and ringleader of the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, ca. 1964. Gee, that date looks a little familiar, doesn't it? That's right. At the same time Jake Pickle was showing what courage and principle really mean, this human dogshit was demonstrating the worst parts of human nature. I'm placing them in the same post for the cliched, yet true reason that humanity (and individuals, too, I guess) need to keep the best and worst in mind to understand and improve themselves. There are no free, gestural strokes here, just control. Look close at the face of hatred. Look carefully. Miss nothing, so if you see it in yourself, you'll know it for what it is, and can take action appropriately.