David Gothard

PIRATES

NOVEMBER 25, 2008
The final art running in today's Wall Street Journal.

Pirates no longer resemble the iconic characters of Treasure Island, but  the danger still exists for any ships navigating the waters off the coast of East Africa. There's no romance in the chaos born pirates of today, and drawing them, sans eye patch and peg legs, is no longer fun.

The sketch had the motley crew dregged up from the waters holding an assortment of weapons. I reasoned that they wouldn't be captive for long if they still had a means for violence, and so I struck them from the final version.

This alternative sketch draws upon the "walk the plank" idea. I was uncomfortable with the image and was glad they chose the other.

Arrrr...is there anything more interesting to draw than pirates? Ok...dragons and devils and deep sea fish, perhaps.

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