De-Faced

There was a really cute girl in the park yesterday and she came over to coo at the kid. “Arf,” I said. The kids’ mom mumbled, “He’s being my boy’s dog.”

“Confidentially,” I told her,“I’m a talking dog.”

That girl couldn’t get out of there fast enough. The kid’s mom looked mortified. But I don’t get it: who wouldn’t be impressed with a talking dog?

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I once had a drawing instructor who told me that anytime you cropped a woman's head out of a drawing, it was a sign of incipient misogyny. I really couldn't argue the case at the time, because I was 13 and she had used two very hard words. I apologized reflexively - a practice that has served me well - but after a brief pause for consideration of two and a half decades, I believe I'd like to change my plea to not guilty.

Sometimes figures just spill off of the page as you draw them. Sometimes gesture trumps everything else. And sometimes drawing the face is beside the point, as is the case in this week's drawing.

Obviously the woman rushing away thinks our hero is some kind of weirdo. This might make for a funny picture, but I think funnier is the fact that our hero is genuinely confused by her reaction, an idea underscored by the mother's embarrassment. (The kid looks confused too, but that's just the way some kids look. If they're not giggling, crying or about to cry, they look confused. Some adults too, come to think of it.)

In any case, throw in the “this guy is a weirdo” face into this already ongepotchtik arrangement and it's like topping the joke with a rimshot. At least that's how I figured it. If anyone disagrees strongly, I'll apologize reflexively.

This week's dog is a lovely Havanese, appropriately named Cuba, sent in by Bob, who runs DPFamily, a New York-based social networking site for dogs. For info, send a line to cuba@chelseacommons.com. Thanks, Bob!

More soon, promise. In the meantime, keep sending in dog photos (thanks to all of those I got this week!!), write me emails, make some comments on the blog, read the story so far or check out seltzerstudio.com. By the way, to see the Studio's portfolio in the same great format as Part-Time Dog, just click here.