Jeff Koterba trades his pencil and ink for pad and apple.
For three years, artist Jeff Koterba’s new iPad and Apple pencil sat unused and unloved.
“My son encouraged me to use it and I tried to, in fits and starts. I just could not get the hang of it,” said Koterba, who has been The World-Herald’s cartoonist for more than 30 years.
He liked creating his cartoons at a drawing board, with real ink in a multilayered process. He was used to that. It was comfortable.
above: Old Jeff and New Jeff
“I don’t know what happened,” Koterba said. “I literally picked it up and said ‘Today I’m going to start drawing my editorial cartoons this way.’ At my age I didn’t know if I could learn anything new, but it changed my life.”
His first cartoon produced on iPad appeared in The World-Herald on Easter.
above: Jeff’s Easter cartoon. The Omaha World-Herald says it is Jeff’s first new age cartoon, while Jeff, on his Facebook page, says “This is one of the last cartoons I’ve drawn using traditional methods. Pencil, paper, pen, brush, ink, watercolor.” You decide.
The Omaha World-Herald interviews Jeff about evolving.
“You can put shadows in eyeballs,” he said with something approaching awe. “I like to think that on some level, readers are picking up on these details.”
“I’ve never had so much fun drawing,” he said. “Every day I am still learning.”
Jeff also talks about his Chirpy comic strip and his local Hoff Center one-off gig
in association with their “Lines With Power and Purpose: Editorial Cartoons” exhibit.