Teepees

Solon H. Borglum's sketch studies Native American dwellings and figures in loose pen strokes across aged paper. The composition arranges multiple views—conical structures, seated figures, gestural poses—as compositional notes rather than sequential narrative. Borglum (1868–1922), better known for sculpture, worked across media during the 1890s when illustrated journalism and early comic supplements demanded visual documentation of the American West. Such field studies informed the comic strip aesthetic developing in Sunday newspapers: the habit of breaking action into discrete studied moments, the economy of line suggesting form, recurring visual motifs. These sketches predate the formal panel grid, yet embody the observational approach that would define the visual language of newspaper comics.