I’ve been studying hatching this year. I love illustration and the ability to convey contrast using a single color—considering whether black is truly a color or simply the absorption of all colors. Sir John Tenniel’s illustration from Alice in Wonderland is wonderful and well worth studying and copying. However, it’s difficult to try new techniques and adapt to new tools; I often fall back into old habits. I use a mouse to illustrate, and I worry that between that and my job, my right hand will eventually lock up and require surgery.
When I look at the Queen, especially in the darker regions, I am inclined to draw one solid black shape and then subtract the negative space. I understand the concept of overlapping lines to create darkness, but lines are difficult in Affinity Designer; I have to take the extra step of "expanding the stroke" to turn a line into a vector shape. It feels easier to simply draw the shape of a line an skip the conversion step.
Let’s pivot. I’ve been stuck on this particular quote from the Queen of Hearts. It’s amazing how my circumstances affect its meaning. There have been times when it struck me as merely ridiculous and funny. Other times, it feels sharp, revealing my own impulsivity. Today, it feels like dark satire. In the past, I saw this line as a tool to expose authoritarianism in some far-off place, but now it feels uncomfortably familiar.
Satire is tricky. Jokes meant to expose hypocrisy and injustice can often become a fool’s manifesto because some people miss the irony. There is a common justification that extreme times call for extreme measures—but what if those times are manufactured? We must be careful not to be so preoccupied with our personal rights that we ignore the rights of others. Elected officials who manufacture crises to oppress one group can just as easily oppress us all.