As for smudging, I have always smudged and smeared inks, and still do–in fact, I think that’s why I gravitated at some point to writing rather than art–I was constantly having to deal with this kind of aggravation, and being harassed for ruining yet another blouse. If it hadn’t been for the cartooning teacher I had mentioning that professional drawings could be done effectively with quick-drying pens rather than brushes and india ink, I probably wouldn’t have continued drawing cartoons, even though, in particular, I love the visual element. As it is, everyone around me knows when I’ve been inking (and ‘whiting out’) because there are ink marks and white out all over my left hand–I also occasionally smudge fresh ink, even though the Pigmas I use dry super fast. My way of coping with these smudges is to 1) curse, and 2) get out the white-out pen and erase the smudges (I’ve become pretty adept with it!). Actually, I just checked the smugeguard website–the smudgeguard looks like something a cool super hero would wear, and I’m glad to hear it really works! I might try it one day–thanks for mentioning it!

That has nothing to do with Sheree. My other life has crowded out the cartooning to some extent…grrrr!