Way back in the day, just six months into Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes comic strip launch, I wrote him a letter. I asked: How do I do what you do? What's the path? And then I suggested we meet. (I had learned he lived nearby. Now how I got THAT information I don't know.) Anyway, it was 1986 and I was a kid and Calvin and Hobbes was the best new strip out there. I didn't have a lot of money, but I made sure to get my copy of the paper every day so I could read his comic. I had no idea if he would write back, but in June 1986, he did. Declining my lunch offer, he then went into what he felt the key was in developing a good comic strip: character development. "Just practice, and have a lot of patience," he wrote.
I am very fortunate to
have become a professional cartoonist. By the next decade, I had begun a cartooning career. I drew a magazine cover and got a book deal. It was beginning to happen. By
the 2000s, I was off and running, with lots of clients. Thanks to Bill Gallo, Stan Goldberg, Frank Springer and other cartoonists I had met, they recommended me to be on the
board of the National Cartoonists Society. In addition to drawing cartoons for The New York Daily News, Reader's Digest, The Wall Street Journal, etc., I was also teaching and
lecturing. A big change. Mr. Watterson was right. Patience and
persistence were key.
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1 comment:
What an inspiring journey! Connecting with Bill Watterson early on and taking his advice to heart clearly paid off. It’s amazing to see how persistence and passion led you to such a successful career in cartooning. A true testament to following your dreams! 🎨✍️
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