I was sorry to learn today that Drawn, one of the bright go-to points on the web for regular shots of cartooning and illustration inspiration, has ended its run after 8 years.
Started in early 2005 by cartoonist and illustrator John Martz, and eventually drawing on a collaborative rooster of artists, Drawn was always finding and showcasing bright talents and wonderful work by a large number of creators.
Along with Cartoon Brew, 100 Years of Illustration, Boing Boing and a few others, Drawn! (at the time with an exclamation point in the title) was one of the models on which I based the format of Lines and Colors when I launched it in August of 2005.
Though the scope and intention of the two blogs were different, I always thought of Martz and the Drawn crew as kindred spirits in the presentation of inspirational posts about art and artists.
Martz has written a farewell post, Drawn 2005-2013, on his personal blog explaining the decision.
I obviously disagree with his sentiment in regard to the continued relevancy of art blogs (grin), but I understand his decision.
The current archives are still available at the original address of http://blog.drawn.ca. Martz indicates that they will eventually be moved to an archive address.
I will be among many who will miss Drawn as an ongoing blog, but I want to emphasize that the archived pages are not to be overlooked as a source of continued exploration and inspiration.
Thanks to John and the other Drawn contributors for many years of enjoyment!
(Image above: Drawn! front page as it appeared on the one year anniversary of its launch.)
Drawn 2005-2013, John Martz blog
http://johnmartz.com
Related posts:
Drawn! (2006)
Yearbook Project: Excelsior 1968 (John Martz)
Oh, I am sad to see it go. Despite the fact that most blogging/collecting platforms are now media-stuffed, there’s still something to say for particularly well-curated content and commentary (such as lines and colors, of course :)). On that note, thank you for continuing to provide such a rich read day to day!
Gone for a few days and I miss a world of content here. This saddens me too. Drawn featured me early on and it really helped in my easing into the digital world. Call me old-fashioned but I still love content based sites like yours Charley over the MTV inspired visual bite presentation. But sadly I see it with my sites too. The quick fix is here to stay.
Thanks for the comments, Bill.
I think there’s room for both short and long form presentation of similar subjects.
The new doesn’t necessarily supersede the old, roles just change. Despite proclamations to the contrary, radio didn’t kill periodicals, movies didn’t kill radio, television didn’t kill movies and the internet didn’t kill all of the above (at least, not yet).
Coming back from Spectrum Live I was delighted to hear from a couple of art directors how healthy the print market is. So of course you’re right but it’s hard to allay and old man’s, well nearly old man’s, grumpy musings.
Far be it from me to deny you your Grumpy Musings…. (grin).
I disagree too. Of all of the art blogs out there, nobody does it as well as Lines and Colors and Drawn.ca. I feel like curating and profiling artists and artwork takes a great deal of taste and discernment. A lot of people have very narrow taste, and finding things that get A LOT of people excited is not an easy task. Oh well…