![](https://drawger.com/paulrogers/images/1112427727.jpg)
Last week Nicholas Blechman called requesting an illustration for an article about squash, the sport, not the vegtable, written by Tad Friend in The New Yorker.
![](https://drawger.com/paulrogers/images/0577395087.jpg)
The article is about Mr. Friend's relationship to the sport and also the mental side of the game as an antidote to midlife malaise. The editor sent along a note about the Hourglass Analogy, an idea that in middle-age a weaker player may occasionally beat a much better player. Sketch 1 is in color, because I wasn't sure the pencil sketch would communicate my thinking clearly.
![](https://drawger.com/paulrogers/images/2060788642.jpg)
Sketch 2 was chosen and I sent over two color options. In re-reading the article I also realized that Mr. Friend is left-handed.
![](https://drawger.com/paulrogers/images/6404046775.jpg)
They went with the red one. It's always great to see a piece printed, surrounded by that distinctive New Yorker typography.