Of those books, he wrote 24 himself.
Of those 24 books, one-- Pepper and Salt-- contained 90 of his illustrations.
Of those 90 illustrations, one was this small pen and ink headpiece of a girl with 17 geese:
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| Many thanks to Molly and Mary at the Delaware Art Museum for locating this drawing that I recalled seeing there 20 years ago. |
The first thing you notice about these 17 geese is that Pyle treated each one differently, with its own angle or stance or personality. Each has its own dignity:
There are no stray lines to suggest geese in the background that Pyle didn't feel like drawing completely. No Photoshop. No photocopiers.
Charles Dickens wrote:
I should never have made my success in life if I had been shy of taking pains, or if I had not bestowed upon the least thing I have ever undertaken exactly the same attention and care that I have bestowed upon the greatest.
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