Gouache and water color painting by J.D. 2023 My Father’s Ruler My father made his living as a commercial artist in the era when all production was analogue. In the 1940s, as he finished his two-year trade school education, the only computers in use were mainframes processing census data, military information in highly limited circumstances, and a handful of research situations. His training disciplined his hand, eye, and sensibility to produce what was known in the advertising industry as “camera-ready copy”—layouts of type and image drawn and inked on mat board ready to be photographed and turned into film for print. My father’s skills in this realm always amazed me. He could hand letter typographic font families, for instance. Asked to draw a headline in Craw Clarendon in 18 point bold or Futura Light 14pt, he would produce a near-perfect example. Maybe he looked at specimens to assist, but still, the sureness of his touch and capacity to render were the outcome of serious practice and effort—as well as natural gifts.
A beautifully rendered and affectionate meditation on an object, measurement of space and time, and one’s father. Its detail and metaphoric reach demonstrates the kind of careful, analogue consideration of (spatial and generational) scale you’re talking about. Thank you, Johanna!
It seems wonderful to me that you still have these tools of your father's trade and, presumably, use them from time to time, just as I use my mother's salad implements and wear her jewelry every day. I feel that these objects not only speak to another time in our own histories, but are imbued as well with some of the energy, perhaps even a spark of the personality of our forebears.
That last paragraph is truly beautiful ... the intermingling of one's mind, labor, and tools. Thank you for these gifts Johanna!
A beautifully rendered and affectionate meditation on an object, measurement of space and time, and one’s father. Its detail and metaphoric reach demonstrates the kind of careful, analogue consideration of (spatial and generational) scale you’re talking about. Thank you, Johanna!
It seems wonderful to me that you still have these tools of your father's trade and, presumably, use them from time to time, just as I use my mother's salad implements and wear her jewelry every day. I feel that these objects not only speak to another time in our own histories, but are imbued as well with some of the energy, perhaps even a spark of the personality of our forebears.