The Project
I was off to the races. Ideas spilling out of me, linework solutions created on the fly, identity system evolution.... All these gears were turning. But to what end?
It always feels more real with a logo.
I started researching the cartoon syndicates (ridiculously sinister sounding) and determined that a portfolio of 24 cartoons was the starting point. I finished the Confederate General piece on July 23rd. My immediate goal was to have all 24 completed in one month, August 23rd. If I could get more than 24, go with the best 24. Otherwise, I had to bat 1.000, no do-overs, no apologies.
So then what? Once completed, I would have a whole body of work that in very few ways resemble the entirety of my portfolio. I have no experience in true editorial illustration. I needed an explanation, a presentation. So My Covid Summer became Project Goat Rope; the writing and presentation of this document, whatever it’s final form may be.
The Inspiration and the Promise
About twenty miles from where I am unbearably slowly typing this, is the birthplace of Will Rogers. 100 years ago, Will was a national treasure. He was a vaudevillian, specializing in rope tricks and cowboy humor. He became a stage and film actor, and later, a newspaper columnist and opinion writer. He has a hospital named after him and according to a contemporary Baltimore Sun writer he was “the most dangerous writer alive today.”
Will was the coiner of many beloved quotes, perhaps the most recognizable being that he never met a man he didn’t like. Without doing any research to the contrary, I would believe that the inverse is also true: He never met anyone who didn’t like him.
Neither of those things can be said of me. There’s plenty of folks out there I don’t like and vice-versa. While my tone may seem rustic colloquial, lots of y’alls and such, don’t mistake it for awshucksism.
I’m going to attract trolls and haters, hopefully from every quarter, that way I know I’m being fair.
Appendix IV: I did other stuff this Summer, too
But I won’t promise to be balanced. I’m not a journalist and I’m not unbiased. I have my values. If through hard work, deep thought, and the slightest scrap of talent, I am allowed a wider forum for my views, then that is what they will remain. Mine. For over 20 years I have been creating a visual manifestation of other peoples’ ideas. Project Goat Rope is a hard break from that.
What I will promise is what I hold most dear in the character of Will Rogers: authenticity. I promise I will always be true to my mind, to my values, and to my voice. There may be times when I hold my tongue, may be times when I need to wash it with soap, but it will never fork.
I won’t bat 1.000. I’ll hit home runs and I’ll strike out. I’ll ground into double plays and I’ll get
plunked by my ex-girlfriend’s jerk new boyfriend. But I’m gonna swing. I am going to swing.
