Katie Strange - Line Drawing
My dream is to walk around the world. A smallish backpack, all essentials neatly in place. A camera. A notebook. A traveling paint set. A hat. Good shoes. A nice pleated (green?) skirt for the occasional seaside hotel afternoon dance. Maira Kalman, illustrator and journalist, Principles of Uncertainty, 2007
Kaitlin Fitzmahan Strange. Berkeley, California. 2019.
and then nestled inside an article written in handwritten text. I’ve seen these illustrations in the New Yorker and as illustrations in books. Some artists call this graphic journalism or pictorial narration.
Maira Kalman, author and New Yorker columnist, said that when she began writing with illustrations, she asked herself, “How do I combine this writing and this art to say as much as I can with as few words as I can?” She describes herself as a ‘remix’ artist, feeling that words and artwork are inseparable.
Wendy McNaughton, based in San Francisco, calls her work ‘illustrative journalism.’ She draws pictures of people then uses their interviews to tell stories. She says that “Sketching opens up doors, while other media might shut them down.” She was featured on PBS and ended her piece with, “I am interested in the stories of people who don’t get their story told.” (PBS NewsHour, “How drawing opens up doors for this documentarian.” January 7, 2016)
Kaitlin Strange, a founding member of the Art Junket, was asked by Berkeleyside, a small local newspaper, to write a series of columns on women chefs on the east side of San Francisco Bay. Katie interviewed chefs and used one-line drawings to tell stories of how the women started making food for others, and what challenges the food industry has for a woman in the business.
Many years ago, I watched as Katie made these one-line portraits. She didn’t seem to be really paying attention to what she was drawing, she just made it happen on paper. Line drawing is an image made by pen or pencil against a plain background and a continuous line drawing is one in which a single, unbroken line is used to make the image.
Katie Fitzmahan Strange. 2019
At first making portraits for her friends and family, Katie started making portraits of women who inspired her. Then people started to buy her little drawings - drawings that she made as an expression of love of friends, family, and important ideas. She made drawings of the nature she grew up with. She drew animals she tried to protect. As Katie travels to work or on journeys abroad, she carries a quiet little sketchpad. On the bus, sitting at a cafe, or hiking in the Sierras, Kaitlin Strange records life as she feels it.
Words and illustration of Berkeleyside article: Kaitlin Fitzmahan Strange
Words: Maureen Fitzmahan