I'm The Oldest Antique In Town.

It Wouldn't Be Right For Me To Clown Around When I'm Painting A President.

Some Folks Think I Painted Lincoln From Life, But I Haven't Been Around That Long. Not Quite.

The Balopticon [a Machine That Projects Photos On Canvas To Trace The Lines] Is An Evil, Inartistic, Habit-forming, Lazy And Vicious Machine! It Also Is A Useful, Time-saving, Practical And Helpful One. I Use One Often-and Am Thoroughly Ashamed Of It. I Hide It Whenever I Hear People Coming.

I Talk As I Sketch, Too, In Order To Keep Their Minds Off What I'm Doing So I'll Get The Most Natural Expression I Can From Them. Also, The Talking Helps To Size Up The Subject's Personality, So I Can Figure Out Better How To Portray Him.

I'm Still About As Pigeon-toed As You Can Get. But I Learned To Manage Pretty Well On A Bike. Should Have Had A Bicycle Then, When I Was A Kid, But Our Family Didn't Have The Money For Such Luxuries. I Saved Up To Buy One Myself A Few Years Later.