Reaching back 25 years, all the way to January, 1996. I was clicking through the old stuff, and I came across this one. Yeah, I know: anchovies on the pizza for the cat’s enjoyment. It’s been done. The point I want to bring up here, though, is that I have never been satisfied with my depiction of Ludwig the cat. I feel I have never been able to capture the distinctive essence of the cat, something other cartoonists seem to be able to do routinely. Well, I tell myself, at least Ludwig is “cartoony,” and over the years I have gotten used to not being able to draw cats. When the strip above appeared in newspapers, Ludwig had not been a player in the cast for very long. His early depictions were more realistic, perhaps none more so than here. I don’t see it as much of an improvement. Something in between, perhaps. And for what it’s worth, my cats have to fight me for the anchovies.
