As my Dad entered receipts into his accounting software, he would mark them as finished with a flourish – a quickly drawn face.
Many faces were simple and smiling, others more detailed and emotive. I think they represented his feelings about how well things were balancing out in the software and not so much the bills themselves.
My Dad loved to sketch and appreciated good line work. So while there may not have been much fore-thought , these were done with a practiced hand – intuition and experience.
I clipped and scanned a collection of them that represented those I found in 2013. I enjoy the simple smiles and recognize the happy feeling of a small job accomplished. I also appreciate the occasional frustrations with such tasks. I understand why he explored different styles to relieve the boredom. (It was my Mom that first showed me it was okay to place a smilie face in-line while handwriting a letter.)