Barney Tobey, a contract cartoonist for The New Yorker, had over 1,200 cartoons published in the magazine. When he was in his 20s, he sent in 3 cover ideas to The New Yorker
magazine. To his pleasant surprise, they sold. That was a turning
point. Mr. Tobey walked out of his BBD and O advertising agency job to
become a full-time cartoonist freelancer. Brave soul!
Mr.
Tobey (1906-1989) shares his sketchbook with us in B. TOBEY OF THE NEW
YORKER, an oversized hardcover published by Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc.
and copyright 1983 by Barney Tobey.
Below are his words, his sketchbook pages and then, the final cartoon
finish, for two of Mr. Tobey's cartoons, taken from the appendix of the
book.
THE MAKING OF A CARTOON - I
THE MAKING OF A CARTOON - II
Cartooning may look like it just drips out of the cartoonist's hand like
a leaky creative faucet, but here is a peek at the time, the writing,
the rewriting, the missteps, the hard labor — that all go into making
the end result look effortless.
Related:
Norman Rockwell Museum Exhibit: All for Laughs: The Artists of the Famous Cartoonist Course March 1 through June 15, 2025
-- Edited from a May 5, 2009 blog entry.
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