Sketchbook Diaries (James Kochalka’s…)

(Top Shelf, 2001-2004)
™ and © Top Shelf

Grown men usually don’t keep diaries. Who has the time? Well, if you’re a would–be cartoonist, you do. Every tiny foible becomes artistic fodder. All aspects of anyone’s private life become fair game. A cat can talk, a dog is more than a best friend, but the creative muses remain as elusive as ever.

In this spirit, here’s the second volume of James Kochalka’s slice-of-life musings. Dutifully sketching a four-panel block once a day looks easy enough. But it takes persistence, commitment, and a willingness to depict life at its unvarnished best and worst—and most mundane.

More often than not, Kochalka hits the mark, as he meanders from fanciful daydreams to mild depression, and spousal dialogues to solitary sarcasms. However, from a reader’s point of view, plowing through 365 strips is no easy task, especially when there are no overt themes, rhymes, or reasons. But it’s those moments of keen appreciation for life’s simple pleasures that prove the old adage that an artist does have to practice to perfect his eye and his craft.

— Oliver Chin

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