Gifted artist used
only simple tools[IN APPRECIATION]
Before Photoshop, Freehand and Illustrator, there were pen, pencil, ink and brush. Ray Higuchi used these simple tools skillfully to produce charts, graphs, maps and other artwork for the Star-Bulletin better than any of the high-tech computer programs for graphics could.
That's because the long-time art director, who died Tuesday at age 82, was truly an artist, one who never allowed his high standards to be compromised.
Counter to the stereotype of a messy artist, Ray was neat, his pencils sharpened, pen nibs cleaned and ready, paper supplies lined up corner to corner and stored in orderly drawers. His gray hair was parted and combed with precision, his short-sleeved shirts unwrinkled even after a hard, busy day.
Ray could not be ruffled. Asked to create a complex map five minutes before deadline, he would not waste time complaining, but would bend to the task at hand. He knew Hawaii so well he seldom needed to consult reference books.
His pen-and-ink portraits of famous people were as well executed as his oil paintings of island landscapes. His fingers were as quick as his wide smile, his penchant for flirting as charming as his intellect.
In the last years before retirement, Ray put his talent in calligraphy to good use. He brushed his philosophy in Japanese characters on a white sheet of paper that was framed and mounted outside the editor's office.
Translated, it said, "Do it right the first time." Indeed, Ray, indeed.
--Cynthia Oi