Inspiring me further was my normal trip to Dunkin' Donuts (or simply "Dunkin'" these days. Whatever. The Willis Tower will always be the Sears Tower to me) on Friday morning after work to pick up breakfast and an iced coffee for my wife Tracy. i looked at the bag containing her toasted plain bagel with veggie cream cheese and thought, "That's it...a donut," referring to Mitch's aforementioned famous bit on whether or not the purchase of a single donut warranted the printing of a receipt. A donut would serve as my design element, my visual hook, if you will, to help the foreground pop, as if pushing Mitch toward the microphone.
I kicked off this piece like I normally do any other by starting off with a full-blown pencil drawing (with my trusty Alvin DA Delux "TECH" Drafting leadholder I call the "Blue Special"!). I debated on what surface I would handle this and decided it should be in my 8.5" X 11" Daler-Rowney sketchbook, something a little more personal and easier to carry around. The pencils were fun but I became over-officious with the design. A lot of examining, erasing, re-examining and pecking away. Like the great Frank Cho often says, if it looks right, it's right. If it looks wrong, it's wrong. Don't fall in love with your artwork. It's OK to erase. And, boy howdy, I most certainly did.
Once I was satisfied with my pencils, it was off to my "wireframing" stage...
As I've probably described if before, "wireframing," to me, is my process of locking down my pencil layout with equally detailed yet simple outlining, then erasing my original pencils. For my outlining, I used .03 and .05 gauge Micron pens, which feature archival ink that dries rather quickly. I did test out a few Tombow pens during this stage but I'm still getting used to them. Believe me; when you use certain tools for a long time, a shift will reveal subtle yet noticeable differences. I'll definitely give them a fairer chance by using them from the start of my next piece.
After my original pencils were erased, it was off to spotting blacks with a Faber-Castell PITT "B"-series brush pen and a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, reinforcing lines and working in greyscale with my Copic refillable markers. Afterward, I made a few corrections and highlights with Faber-Castell white ink and a Bic "Wite-Out" correction pen.
I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't draw this in color. Well...it just seemed like the thing to do; it's honestly how I envisioned the finished piece. Sure I could've drawn the donut in color but the absence of color just felt right. I believe when a piece in done in greyscale or even graphite, the viewers themselves mentally fill in the blanks. They kind of imagine these things in color. Plus, that frosting and those sprinkles can be any color you want them to be.
(Speaking of the donut, I mentioned to Tracy that the composition reminded me of paintings of saints and Jesus Christ and she replied, "He's the Patron Saint of Donuts™"! I thought that was funny as hell and I truly believe Mitch would've thought so too.
It's often been said that Mitch Hedberg dealt with stage fright and anxiety. Some have even claimed he suffered from glossophobia, a severe fear of public speaking. However I've read that Mitch's widow Lynn Shawcroft refuted the latter claim and if anyone would know, I certainly believe she would. Of course, not knowing the man personally, I was always taken by his overall aversion to seemingly avoiding eye contact with his audience. Perhaps a defense mechanism? Could be but that coy smile during his delivery undermined all of that. I believe that got him through because he wasn't just entertaining us; he was also entertaining himself.
Mitch Hedberg's star shined bright but nowhere near as long as it should've. Though having ventured into comedy in 1989, he didn't really break through until 1996 as a guest on "Late Night with David Letterman." The rest, Dear Howlers, is comedy history. That said, we lost that bright star just a little over 20 years ago, on March 30, 2005.
Were Mitch Hedberg still alive today, who knows what wonderous hilarity would've ensued over those past two decades? That said, we should be happy with the gifts he did give us. So do yourself a favor, kids: Buy a donut (or maybe even a dozen. They're delicious!) and fall down into a Mitch Hedberg wormhole on YouTube. You'll be glad you did.
Rest in eternal peace, Mitch. ❤🙂
