Admiring the Work of Walt Kelly

November 18th, 2025

I started illustrating before the digital arts were a thing. My supplies consisted of no-repro blue pencil, Speedball India ink, my precious Windsor Newton #7 Kolinsky sable brushes, a container full of my favorite classic pen nibs, and a small, fresh stack of hot-press Bristol boards. Or for color work, 100% cotton, Crescent illustration boards. As frustrating as it was at the time, I think back fondly of the illustrations I produced then. That’s why I'm fascinated whenever I get the opportunity to see authentic pen-and-ink work. Like the original artwork of Walt Kelly featured on this auction website.

You can zoom in and look at Walt Kelly’s line work. His brushwork is beautiful. Then there’s the hand lettering for the entire story. The man was a master draftsman. The story is also very cute, including Kelly's Pogo characters.

Via Heritage Auction