Forget what you've heard. The Wall Street Journal's classic dot drawing "hedcuts" are not conjured up by a computer. The hedcuts are in fact painstakingly hand-drawn, and the paper wouldn't have it any other way. The artists use a method called "stipple" that results in distinctive works of art. In fact, 46 hedcuts will soon be put on display by the National Portrait Gallery. And now, for the first time, some of the originals are available for purchase.
Kevin Sprouls created the first hedcuts in 1979. Mr. Sprouls started drawing for Dow Jones & Company, the Journal's parent company, as a freelance artist in the marketing department. The paper was in the midst of modestly revamping its look, and page one editor Glynn Mapes admired Mr. Sproul's style. "Dots are closer to an engraving technique and I've always thought it was a pretty good match for the Journal," Mr. Sprouls says. "It's a tie-in with the illustrations you see on stock certificates. They're like fine engravings."
The Journal now publishes about 10 hedcuts a day-some "live," some from an electronic archive of over 9,000 portraits. The current six artists still prefer to each focus on only one piece a day.
On April 9, The Wall Street Journal introduced its most comprehensive changes in 60 years, including a new Personal Journal section focused on the "business of life" and color on a redesigned front page. But the hedcuts remain-the icons of the Journal's trademark look.
To celebrate these changes, the Journal is offering for auction 582 unique hedcuts of prominent individuals, each with the original artist's proof make-ready markings. Profits from the auctions will go to the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, to fund minority journalism scholarships.
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