Elena Called A Let

This cartoon isn’t really a standalone cartoon, it’s just a page from my sketchbook. I’m posting it because I like it as much as a real cartoon.

This started as a sketchbook pencil drawing of Elena Dementieva. I’ve mentioned a few times that she’s my favorite WTA player. [I talk about her here and here and here.] Right now Dementieva is having a great run at the Australian Open. Many people think this might be the year she wins her first grand slam title.

So I thought it would be fun to draw her.

Of course, I couldn’t just draw her, I wanted to do something funny, even if it’s only in my sketchbook for myself. So I thought it would be cool if she was playing tennis and had to deal with tennis balls that suddenly turned into cans of Beanee Weenies . . .

I did a pencil sketch and I liked it. So I inked it. I added the caption using a plain old BIC ballpoint pen. When I decided to post it I added just a bit of color using one of those Winsor & Newton pocket watercolor sets.

Incidentally, it made my watercolor brushes very happy to be out of the closet and getting some use again. For the last few weeks I’ve been doing acrylics and I don’t use my watercolor brushes with acrylics. Even though I only used one brush for the cartoon, they were all dancing again.


Maybe it will bring Dementieva luck!


She’s the very best WTA player who’s never won a grand slam and she really should win the Australian Open this year. And she is my pick for the most interesting personality in sports. Someday I’m going to do a post about her tribulations in the tennis world. She’s been in two or three grand slam finals. In the spotlight, when she’s had the opportunity to win big, she hasn’t just lost—she’s lost big time. She’s played so badly that she embarrassed herself. But the remarkable thing about Dementieva is that she’s always pulled herself together and gotten back into competition. She won the gold medal at last year’s Olympics. She can be the best player in the world. Or the worst. She’s very, very interesting. And she doesn’t quit. I really admire that.