November 2003
Zeb
My first published drawing was at the age of 15 when I entered a drawing contest for a teen magazine. The prize was ten bucks. That was a
good hunk of money for a teen in those days. To my pleased amazement, my pic won, and so began my career of drawing dumb pictures for the masses.
After that, I began doing regular freelance work for magazines until 1974 when I made the decision to become a full-time missionary with an
international group called The Family. Aside from doing regular field work, my main ministry has been helping to illustrate and produce publications.
Chronologically, I did my final art with a BIC pen, Flair, crowquill, brush, and then Japanese felt-tip brush pens, which I used for about
five years. Then one day I stumbled across Xara X. I began experimenting drawing with Xara using a mouse and liked the results so I moved up to a tablet and stylus.
The reason I like drawing in Xara is that the end result is so much better than inking by hand. The lines are crisper and smoother and all
of the elements are editable since they are individual vector objects. Another factor is that I'm not getting any younger, and my eyes and hands are not what they used to be. Drawing with Xara has suddenly enabled
me to draw the tiniest detail with the utmost precisionso, who needs a brush?
To end on a personal note for those inclined to curiosity, Zeb is my pen name. I am married and have 12 children plus four grandchildren
with one more on the way, so I've been doing more than just drawing these past 30 years!
May God bless and keep you,
Zeb
Visit Zeb's website at ZEBtoonz/
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