Bobbins In Reverse 1

A few years ago I had the idea to train myself to draw with my non-dominant hand, my left, by redrawing every Bobbins strip right from the very beginning. I would run them daily on a website, the worst website of all time, though one hopes it would improve over time. After a couple of dozen I would be starting to be able to control the pencil. After a few hundred days, I'd have a completely new hand to draw with! Think of the savings on wear and tear!

Well, in the end I didn't do this because it was both a brilliant and a terrible idea and like all ideas of that kind, the main problem is that you will have to do it long after the brilliance of a new idea has faded and you're only left with the awful part.

But for you, my patrons, I am willing to do it once. So below, see the first Bobbins strip from 1998 (believe me, no oil painting in itself), then a left-handed version from this week, followed by a right-handed version drawn the same day (as an experimental control).

Here are my findings:

1. The lettering was the hardest part. By far.

2. Making new compositional choices was impossible with my left hand, while copying. All I could do was try to duplicate what I'd done. When I forgot to look at the original, on the last panel, and just drew it from memory, you will see that actually I did introduce a new idea.

3. I couldn't think in terms of perspective with my left hand. I couldn't make objects inter-relate. I couldn't execute anything resembling a straight line. Everyone's chin headed south-west.

Note: this is the only comic I have ever made while using an Alvin lettering guide. Why didn't I buy one of these 22 years ago?

WILL THIS FEATURE RETURN? ONLY IF YOU DEMAND IT!