Henry Martin was a contract cartoonist for The New Yorker. Mr Martin drew, so I am told by a cartoonist friend of his, five finished cartoons a day. The interview below, from Cartoonist PROfiles #14, June 1972, corroborates this.
This was back in the day when most cartoonists presented pencil roughs. A batch of these roughs were shown to the editor, usually on "look day;" the day that cartoonists came in person the magazine offices throughout New York City to hawk their work. Of course, the editor knew the cartoonist's style and would be able to envision what a final, clean, completed cartoon looked like from the rough. The final finish, in ink, was only drawn once the cartoonist got an "OK" for it.
Above: One of Mr. Martin's many page break illustrations.
Martin would bring in about 20 of his cartoons and 10 spots a week to the Cartoon Editor at The New Yorker. All of them were finished, in ink and china crayon. All of them were ready for publication.
Henry Martin, who is alive and well today, has since retired and is perhaps better known was the Father of Ann M. Martin -- known to millions as the creator of the BABYSITTER'S CLUB series of books. Ms. Martin cites her Dad's persistent ability to sit down and do the work as he inspiration for success.
The interview, which is uncredited, was most probably written by Jud Hurd. The photos are by Jim Ruth.
A hat tip to Don Orehek for this issue of Cartoonist PROfiles! Thanks, Don!
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ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this, Mike. As I've said many times, Henry Martin was a big influence on me early in my career. When I was getting started, his work appeared in many publications, not just the New Yorker. I bought one of his books on eBay a while back, so that's a good place to look if anyone would like to see more of his cartoons.
ReplyDeleteMan I love me some Henry Martin! Thanks for posting this mon frere!
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