Hektograph Artists
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| Title: | Hektograph Artists |
| Creator: | Jack Cadrell |
| Date(s): | May 1938 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Science Fiction |
| Topic: | Fanart, Fandom and Profit, the hectograph |
| External Links: | Hosted online by fanac.org (pp. 12-13)) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Hektograph Artists was a 1938 article by Jack Cadrell, printed in issue 4 of Fantascience Digest. It defended fan art as legitimate compared to professional science fiction art, and pointed out the mechanical difficulties of the hectograph.
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...In the case of the hekto fan artist, his puprose is bare for all to see. He must catch the imagination of his audience, must give his drawing an air of being outside of hum-drum existence. Nearly all of the pictures I have seen by fan artists all do this very well. Choice of subject is the most used device they employ. Bizarre machines and creatures, queer-looking space-ships and railed vehicles with spouting rockets, deadly looking weapons in the hands of grim-visaged, helmeted future-men, all place the action of the scene as not of common occurrence. Fan artists, much more than the professional artists, give one the same feeling that is obtained from reading science fiction itself. It has been termed, aptly or inaptly, as the case may be, a sensation of "escape." We shall let this term serve our purpose. It cannot be contradicted that the fan artists succeed in instilling this feeling in an stf. fan. On this score, then, we can say that the hekto artist is artistic.
Another thing that makes a picture art is the attitude of the artist in drawing it. Does the artist think only of the monetary gain that is to come from the picture, or is he working only for the love of his work? Hekto artists get no remuneration in coin for their work so we can discount this angle immediately. But, you say, there are other forms of remuneration. Maybe the artist just likes to show off, and see his name in print. Yes, this is a possibility, but isn't this a motivating force of everything we do in the creative line? Deep down in every man is this yearning for the plaudits of his fellows. It is very seldom a prime factor, but it does weight in the balance. So we cannot hold this as proof only of the unworthiness of fan artists. It is proof of ---well, what is it proof of? It is inherent in all men, and seems to be a proof that all men are human!
Mechanical deflects in the drawings of hekto artists are myriad, that is not denied. Outlines are shaky and ill-defined; colors are blotchy and "off"; placement and balance are all done by guesswork, if at all. There is a school of art today that says these things are not necessary for real art. Examine some of the impressionist paintings, or some of the modern "horrors," and you will see all of the mechanical defects that are present in fan art. Yet these "big time" pictures are acclaimed as art. So why not hektograph fan drawings?
Some of the above mechanical defects are, no doubt, caused by the medium itself. Hekto ink is not like ordinary drawing ink. It has much more of a tendency to soak into the paper, and blot, and fall off the pen-point at the wrong moment, and run together, and is absolutely impossible to wash correctly. India ink is a purring kitten compared to hekto ink! So give the hekto artist credit. He is a real artist!