Drama in the comments…
Check out this comment by Noli Novak in reply to the comments left on a post I wrote back in 2005. Here’s an excerpt:
Crap hit the fan the day I decided to launch my own website. Everything stated in it then and now is nothing but true, but KS was (is) pissed for one simple reason: when I launched my website, his monopoly of the online hedcut presence ended, and the whole KS clan targeted me like a pack of hungry wolves. For Sharpie to say I’m branding the style as my own is utter nonsense and I challenge you to point to a link, a sentence, a line ….. anything to prove I ever said something remotely close to that! After all, KS made sure his claim to the throne of hedcut holy fatherdoom is etched in the online annals for the rest of times, but even I still pay my respects, mind you. For instance, I spent hours helping Ann Goodyear of the NPG putting the online hedcut exhibit together (link prominently displayed on KS’s site) and it was me who insisted that he be a part of the story (oh, you’re welcomed!). Maybe he expects the rest of us WSJ illustrators to quit stippling altogether? Not after we toiled over the technique and reinvented it many times since he left the paper over 20 years ago!
Noli sent me an email too, apologizing for the comment thread and her need to defend herself on my blog. No apologies necessary, Noli.
In any case, I have nothing to do with this skirmish, and no desire to be involved in it, but it is an interesting view into an apparently competitive and politically charged field. I just thought it was interesting how conversations like this can find a life in the comments to a blog post that was largely me thinking nostalgically about the choices I made in pursuing English over Art. The comments have nothing to do with the and have a more vibrant life thanks to having nothing to do with me.
Also, check out the last paragraph of Noli’s comment. Pass the popcorn; it’s like watching reality TV.
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