Life — February 2, 1911 — page 17: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This is a behind-the-scenes satirical piece about book illustration. It shows an illustrator (John) with a woman viewing his artwork on an easel. The joke critiques the illustrator's creative liberty: he's depicted characters in a modern red automobile rather than the old-fashioned buggy the author originally described in the text. The woman's comment is sarcastic—she's praising his decision to modernize the scene, but the satire suggests illustrators were taking unauthorized liberties with authors' work, substituting contemporary details (the automobile was still relatively new/fashionable) for what was actually written. This reflects early 20th-century tensions between authors and illustrators over artistic interpretation and fidelity to source material.