Lunch with David Jacobson and Jeff Pert

Above: cartoon detail by Jeff Pert.

It was a lovely March day when I made the 2 hour drive north to Brunswick, Maine to have lunch with fellow cartoonists Jeff Pert and David Jacobson.


Above is © Jeff Pert. All rights reserved.

We had all met at last year's Maine Comics Arts Festival. (And we will all be there for the second year of the Festival, on May 23, 2010, in Portland, ME.)

Jeff is well known in the area as the Bob Lobster Guy." His cartoons, in particular the "Hey Bob! How's the water? Bob? Bob!? BOB!!" cartoon, are on magnets, t-shirts and other products. I first saw his work in 2007 at the York Trading Post. There were a bunch of postcards by Jeff and I bought some. All along 95 and Route One, you can see Jeff's cartoons for sale.

Above: "James Joyce's Refrigerator," a New Yorker cartoon by David Jacobson. Copyright © 2010 The Cartoon Bank. All rights reserved. The list goes like this:

1. Call bank
2. Dry cleaner
3. Forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race
4. Call mom

David Jacobson may be a well known, award winning artist who creates "Contemporary Glass in the Venetian Tradition," but he is also a cartoonist, and has sold to The New Yorker. He lives about 90 minutes further north, and has a studio in Portland. Check out David's glass at his new Etsy store.



We had a great meal at the Brunswick Diner. Really. One of the best burgers I've had. And they have a Facebook page.

We had long conversations about cartooning and meeting some of our cartoonist idols. We talked about the challenge of sitting alone in a studio, trying to come up with ideas. We also had a great meal. I know I just said that, but it was really good food.

We talked about making a living, which people now like to call "monetizing your cartoons." In the middle of this talk, sure enough, the waitress came over and asked for a free cartoon drawing! We chatted with her for a minute and found out that she likes to paint. I told her that I'd trade a drawing of mine for a drawings by her. She left and the trade was not mentioned again. But I was serious!


Anyway, it was great to see David and Jeff and talk cartoon talk for a couple of hours. The bill came, and we split it three ways, leaving a generous tip for the patient, artistic waitress.



Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo.

Fortunately, we did draw an impromptu cartoon triptych on the back of that check of a diner. This greasy spoon does not represent the fine establishment that we dined in! This is a work of parody! From left to right: art by Jeff Pert, David Jacobson and me, Mike Lynch. All rights reserved by the respective cartoonists unless you really want to monetize us.

Draw 160

A comic book artist friend of mine, when looking at comic art by Wally Wood (Wally Wood being the best artist ever, in his opinion), would point to Mr. Wood's art and always say, "Look at the knowledge!"

And that's what drawing is all about; acquiring the knowledge of how to draw. How do you draw a fish? A bird? a cool car? a poodle?

Sure, when you read those words you get a visual in your mind -- but how to train your hand to draw what you imagine?

By drawing a lot.

How do you get to be a better cartoonist?

There is the old piece of advice: take a stack of paper the same height that you are. Draw on every one. When you get to the bottom, you've gotten a lot of the bad drawings out of your system and you're a better artist.


I teach cartoon classes in New England and New York. One of the things we do is the "cartoon grid," a series of empty boxes on a page with a word under each panel. Above is one of the cartoon grids, all filled out by last Friday's class.

There are 10 kids in the class, all of them in the upper grades at the local elementary school. All of them are fearless drawing machines!

Here are some details:


Above: 4 of one page's 16 panels. The sleepy monster is one of my favorites.



The chef is crying! The student cartoonist added the emotion herself. What's the story? Cutting onions? Did the souffle fall? Did Gordon Ramsey yell?


This is the most devilly devil have ever seen!



I like the addition of "Yo! Yo!!"




Yes, that IS a big nose!


It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Captain Underpants!


Look at that breathy exhaust! Great!


This does not look like a nice robot.


I couldn't draw a pencil better myself.

The class of 10 drew 160 images in about 25 minutes. How it works: you would get the cartoon grid and read all 16 of the boxes. Pick your favorite to draw and then, when finished drawing, pass it to the left, to the next student cartoonist. The 10 pieces of paper went around the circle of hardworking cartoonists until all of the grids were filled in.

Here is the rest of the results (click on them to supersize):









Just look at all that knowledge! And look at all of the personal, artistic touches: those steam lines coming out of that hot cup of coffee, the girl dancing with the "TAP TAP" sound effect, the mountain climber with all of his gear. I could go on and on, but pictures are worth a thousand words. And there are 160 pictures to look at, so take a moment to look above, and see this next generation of talent.


It worked out to be about 6.4 drawings per minute. All together it looked like this:

A lot of pages! It's not a pile of paper as high as I am, but it's a darn good bit of drawing by a classful of talent for sure!

See You Soon

I'm either on the other line or away from my blog ....

I'll be back later this week.

Please feel free to apply for the position of "blog-sitter." I need a blog-sitter. The emergency numbers are by the phone, make sure that the cats are in bed by 9, and you can eat one Popsicle from the freezer. And no boyfriends/girlfriends allowed over. OK? OK!

James Stevenson: Lost and Found in New York: The Lyceum

James Stevenson contributes another in his continuing Lost and Found series for the New York Times. I enjoy these stories he tells about the history of New York City and it's my fond wish that they be collected sometime soon.

This time he writes about William Saroyan and his play "The Beautiful People," which opened in The Lyceum on 45th Street in 1945. Saroyan gave away tickets for the previews -- James, being only 11 years old, could not stand in the 1000+ person line down 45th Street to get one. But James' friend and neighbor and fellow 11 year old, David, optimistically composed and mailed Mr. Saroyan a letter asking for two of free seats. One for him and one for his friend, Jim Stevenson. Did Mr. Saroyan respond to David? Did Jimmy and David get to see their first Broadway play? Read it all here.

Business Cartoons

On Monday I posted 10 business cartoons and let you know that some of them sold and some did not.

Here are the ones that sold:

"Thank goodness I died on Hawaiian Shirt Day, huh?"

"Oh, vowels are so 2006!"

"You traded the Harris account for two magic WHAT?"

"Oh, it's a great place to work, but the ergonomics are crap."

Four cartoons out of the batch of 10 were bought. The two of the cartoons that were sold more than one time are "Oh, vowels are so 2006!" and "Thank goodness I died on Hawaiian Shirt Day, huh?"

Mattias Adolfsson: The Loop of Death

A wonderful tale of going skiing, full of scary evil squirrels, with little inky images from Mattias Adolfsson's moleskin pad, blown up and shared for our enjoyment.

Big hat tip to my friend Brian Moore.

Ronald Searle

British cartoonist Ronald Searle turned 90 this week.

Paul Giambarba, at his 100 Years of Illustration blog, proffers a video interview with the legendary illustrator, as well samples of his work through the years. Above: a sketch recalling Searle's days in a Japanese POW camp, when he came close to death. I agree with Paul: my favorites are his illustrated comic strip pieces for Punch.

Richard Thompson, at his Cul De Sac blog, shows a piece of Searle art that he owns, and shares with us that Searle used to ink with something like furniture stain.

The Ronald Searle Blog has a lot to say, of course. This must-bookmark site has coverage of the opening night of Searle's Cartoon Museum show, as well as a wonderful tribute to Searle's drawings by movie director Mike Leigh, who says that those inky Searle lines "taught me filmmaking."


Above: one of the drawings that inspired Mike Leigh: A bar in North Berlin, 1959.

Drawn! also has a trove of Searle, via its tireless cartoonists/fans/bloggers, my friend John Martz and Ward Jenkins.

Video: 1982 Milton Caniff Interview by Shel Dorf

Comic-Con founder Shel Dorf was lettering Steve Canyon at the time he interviewed Milt Caniff in 1982.

This section's highlights: Caniff explains why he's glad to be videotaping the interview. Caniff sees his new life mask done by Jim Fountain. They discuss two Steve Canyon characters based on actor Jackie "The Kid" Coogan who lived near Caniff in Palm Springs. Shel recounts a visit to Coogan's house and how it was like a shrine to his "The Kid" character and how Coogan still had his Uncle Fester coat. Caniff talks about Coogan's WWII service and how he was praised as being "a good soldier" by his commanding officer.



Part 2 of 11:

Shel shows his old Terry and the Pirates scrapbook to Caniff. Caniff talks about doing strips under adverse conditions and how it was hard to find an assistant during WWII as almost everyone in the army or going into it. Caniff was 4F during WWII due to phlebitis. Shel shows Caniff a couple of the Terry comics from Harvey, which were the first place Shel had a chance to read the 1936 and 1937 stories (which were reprinted therein). Shel observes that Caniff remembers everything he's done.

They discuss the differences between Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. Caniff says it's easier to do Steve Canyon as he can go anywhere while Terry never got out of China. Why Caniff left Terry and the Pirates. Marshall Field pirating talent to form his Sun Times. Marshall Field approached Chester Gould and Harold Gray. Patterson's feelings toward Caniff after he went with Marshall Field. Tom French, who operated the video camera, gets in front of it and chats with Caniff for a bit; Shel pays tribute to Tom French for helping grow Comic-Con by his good work running the dealers's room.



Part 3 of 11:

What Caniff would have done with Terry and the Pirates had he continued with it. Was Steve Canyon a grown-up Terry? How Caniff's work on The Gay Thirties strip got him the Terry and the Pirates job. Shel tells Caniff about upcoming Steve Canyon publications he's working on with Denis Kitchen. What Caniff was getting paid in his early comic-strip days, and about moonlighting for $17 a week.





Part 4 of 11:

Caniff on a proposed Sherlock Holmes strip that Marshall Field was considering. On Caniff being a storyteller who kept readers in suspense and wondering what would happen next. On his work being fun to him. How Milt invited Shel to join him earlier in the year at Caniff's 75th birthday celebration at Ohio State University; Bob Harvey was there as well; Caniff recounts that special weekend. Shel and Milt give great praise to Lucy Caswell: Caniff curator at Ohio State University. An archivist locates a rejection slip that James Thurber had written to Caniff in 1932. Why Caniff liked to work at night.



Part 5 of 11:

Caniff exhibit put together by Lucy Caswell at Ohio State. Shel quotes Leonard Starr on Caniff. Caniff on Leonard Starr. Caniff on his English classes in middle school and high school. Caniff on why he wouldn't have been a good teacher. Milt's personal library. About a lawyer who let Milt read books from his library when he was young.



Part 6 of 11:

Caniff's dad's boss would let him read from his personal library: Sherlock Holmes, O'Henry. Caniff wanted to be a telegraph operator when young. About his boyhood job delivering telegrams for Western Union (including death notifications during the post-WWI flu epidemic). Caniff 75th-birthday week events and recognition as a noteworthy son of Ohio. On being fired from a newspaper job as a young married right out of college.



Part 7 of 11:

Caniff on artist and friend Noel "Bud" Sickles whom he calls an "amazing man" and the "greatest natural artist" he ever knew.



Part 8 of 11:

More on Noel "Bud" Sickles: working together in New York; about Sickles revolutionizing the way comic strips were done by his work on Scorchy Smith.



Part 9 of 11:

Still more on Noel "Bud" Sickles. Why it's hard to draw dead people but Sickles could do it well. Sickles' western paintings. How Sickles died "with his boots on." More on Caniff's 75th-birthday Ohio State weekend. On being interviewed by Barbara Walters. Answers question "Are you as good as people say you are?" On having dinner at the White House. On people living vicariously through his strips.



Part 10 of 11:

Caniff at celebration for 175th anniversary of his birthplace, Hillsboro, Ohio, where he was asked to join the celebration as grand marshal.



Part 11 of 11:

More on Hillsboro, Ohio 175th anniversary celebration. Caniff on artist Dick Rockwell and Dick's uncle, artist Norman Rockwell. What Dick Rockwell was doing on Steve Canyon and the Steve Canyon production workflow between Caniff, Shel Dorf, and Dick Rockwell.




Related: From 1983: Watch Caniff draw the Dragon Lady while chatting to Shel Dorf in five parts: one, two, three, four and five.

Video: Vaughn Shoemaker

Where did "John Q. Public" come from? From the pen of Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Vaughn Shoemaker!



From You’ll never become a cartoonist… by David Malone:

"At the age of 20, a storybook situation brought the first break of his life. The chief cartoonist for the News left to take a position in New York City. His assistant had gone to take another position in the same city, and the second assistant had to leave because of illness in his family.

"'You, Shoemaker!' the boss shouted. 'Draw something, anything, until I can get a cartoonist somewhere.'"

Video: Rube Goldberg-esque Music Video

The OK Go Band - This Too Shall Pass - RGM version

Directed by James Frost, OK Go and Syyn Labs. Produced by Shirley Moyers. The official video for the recorded version of "This Too Shall Pass" off of the album "Of the Blue Colour of the Sky". The video was filmed in a two story warehouse, in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA. The "machine" was designed and built by the band, along with members of Synn Labs over the course of several months.

Go to the Synn Labs link above for more information of the creation of this 4-minute long Rube Goldberg machine.

The OK Go band are the same guys who came up with that Treadmill Video, which, if you have not seen it yet, well, then, you are one of the very few. And you SHOULD go see it, for heaven's sake. You won't know what to talk about at those fancy cocktail parties, y'know? That is, if you can ever tear yourself away from the Internets.

Big hat tip to the Potrzebie blog!

Paypal Fraud

I'm simplifying this story. I actually had to call 5 different people in the Paypal office here and abroad.

So, here's what happened this morning:

I got about $200 taken from me via my Paypal debit card. The transactions were made by some Web merchant I never heard of in South Africa. I call Paypal's fraud dept. The card is canceled. I ask them how long it'll be before I get my money back. I get put on hold.

It's like they NEVER had someone ask this question.

Several minutes later ....

The fellow comes back on the line. He's nice guy, just trying to get the right answer. I'm told that I have to fill out a form and mail it (snail mail style) and, maybe, before the end of the month, I'll actually get my money back. He emails me the URL of the form.

Can't I just get it all back today? Don't you understand? It's MY money! Aren't we all just people? Help a guy out. Where's your sense of community? Can't I have my own money back NOW?

No.

So, I'm filling out my Affidavit of Disputed PayPal ATM/Debit Card Transactions and I notice the above typo on their site.

THERE'S your sense of "commmunity."

That last "M"'s for MONEY!

It was a tiny moment of levity in a morning full of agitation.

Hope you guys are having a better day.

Protest Signs

When Protest Sines Go Wrong is a collection of photos of misspelled and ill-informed protest signs via the Kontraband Web site. Worth wasting some of your valuable time clicking around the Internets.

Big hat tip to Susannah Tully!


Related: Of course, the best protest signs are the all purpose "Down With This Sort of Thing" and "Careful Now" placards that Father Ted and Father Dougal use when protesting a blasphemous film. Video here.

MISS PEACH Comic Book

The Drawn & Quarterly blog scans in a story from the 1963 one-shot MISS PEACH comic book. It was not produced by MISS PEACH creator Mell Lazarus (despite the cover signature), but by cartoonist Jack Mendelsohn, who had created the cult favorite King Features strip JACKYS DIARY.

Hat tip to Comics Reporter!

Cat Curling

I have no idea what this is. Via Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness.

Don Orehek's Earliest Cartoons

The Don Orehek Cartoons blog shows us a sampling of his CYPHERS strip. Never heard of CYPHERS? Then you weren't in the armed services. CYPHERS was a comic strip that Don drew when he was in the Navy. The lead character was in the tradition of the "bad boy" comics (THE YELLOW KID, SKIPPY, DENNIS THE MENACE, etc.) -- except that this bad boy was a bad old career sailor; an old, drunk sailor who was always getting into trouble. Don has told me about the strip, but until today I never saw samples of this, his earliest published work.

above: Don Orehek, Navy Cartoonist.

Don's wife Suzanne, who is the engine behind Don's blog, provides some background information:

"Don joined the Navy the minute he turned 17 in August 1945. He served on a couple of ships, then in January 1946 he was sent to Green Cove Springs, Florida, a Navy base on the St. Johns river, which incidentally flows north. The sailors in Green Cove worked decommissing ships after World War II. In 1947 Don began work for Public Information on the St. Johns Inlander. He created and drew a comic strip for this weekly base newspaper. The title of the strip was CYPHERS. It was about a toothless old sailor who had been in the Navy 'forever.'"

More here.

Business Cartoon Batch

"Might as well acclimate them when they're young."

I draw a lot of business cartoons because there are a lot of business cartoon markets. Here's a batch of ten for your perusal.

"Ooh! Let's go there and then Daddy will write off the family vacation."

When I say a "batch" of cartoons, I'm describing about 10 cartoons that I choose and mail (or email) to an editor for publication consideration.

"Wilson! Stop bogarting the bonuses and share the wealth!"

This is a typical batch. Some cartoons are stronger in terms of their "funniness" than others, all touch on some aspect of business.

"Thank goodness I died on Hawaiian Shirt Day, huh?"

This batch is a couple of years old. That's enough time for the cartoons to get to a lot of markets.

"He's not our founder. He just found us the most tax loopholes."

"It's not what you think. I gave the drivers a raise before we flew out."

"Oh, vowels are so 2006!"

"You traded the Harris account for two magic WHAT?"

"Oh, it's a great place to work, but the ergonomics are crap."

"After spending so much time and money on our lawsuit,
don't you think it would be a shame to go ahead and bribe me like this?"

Five of these cartoons were held, four were bought. Two of the cartoons were sold more than one time.

If you like, you can guess which ones sold. I'll let you know later ....