The Hook Nose Period

 There was a time in the development of Rumpeltonian art when Ralph Rumpelton had only one reliable way of drawing a nose: the hook.

It did not matter who the subject was. Jazz musician, rock star, poet, philosopher, or some unfortunate person who happened to wander into the frame—everyone received the same distinctive appendage. The Rumpeltonian Hook Nose was not so much a facial feature as a declaration of artistic intent.

During this period, noses curved boldly downward, often with a determination that suggested they had somewhere important to be. Subtlety was not yet part of the Rumpeltonian vocabulary. If a nose could be made more hooked, it was.

In retrospect, however, the Hook Nose Period was an important stage in the evolution of Rumpeltonian Cubism. The artist was learning to reduce a complicated three-dimensional feature into a few simple shapes. The hook was crude, occasionally absurd, and frequently larger than necessary—but it was a solution.

And now, something has changed.

Rumpelton has discovered how to make a nose that actually looks like a nose.

This development marks the possible end of the Hook Nose Period and the beginning of a new and potentially dangerous era: The Anatomically Plausible Nose Period.

Whether Rumpeltonian art will survive this sudden intrusion of realism remains to be seen.

The hook, however, will always have its place in history.

It was the nose that got him there.