When I wrote a page about
myself as a birding guide, I asked a
number of people for feedback. More than one person suggested that the
page would benefit from a photograph (or three) of myself, perhaps with
clients. Although I agreed in principle, I couldn't bring myself to do
anything about it—adding a mugshot sounded so boring.
I liked Hassath's idea of using a cartoon much better, but even though I
could imagine a few suitable cartoons, I had—as usual—no idea how to put
them down on paper. So I did nothing, and the weeks passed by.
The other day, I happened to see Rohan Chakravarty's
bird cartoons on
the KolkataBirds web site. The style wasn't exactly what I had in mind
for my own web page, but I liked the illustration, especially the birds'
expressions. I knew Rohan in passing from the delhibird mailing list,
and I decided to ask him if he would be interested. He was.
I explained the style I wanted: black-and-white to fit the fairly sober
mood of the page, more lines than solid areas; something very much like
the New Yorker
cartoons. Rohan and I discussed a few ideas, and quickly settled on
a concept for one wide panel and one square panel, and an approximate
price. I told him I was in no particular hurry, and swapped the subject
out of my mind.
To my surprise, however, Rohan completed the assignment in no time at
all, and the cartoons he sent me the next day were brilliant. I had not
expected the first draft to match what was in my head, let alone improve
on it, but it did; and I was able to use his illustrations without any
changes on my web page, where they look
great even a week later.
Rohan's blog is at
greenhumour.blogspot.com.
Should anyone I know need the services of a freelance illustrator and
cartoonist, I know whom to recommend now.