Hint Of What's Happening
Drawing cartoons
In the world of New Yorker cartooning, Tuesday is deadline day. If you want to sell a drawing for the print publication, you have to submit by noon on that day. And usually, I draw at least 6 every week. As one who loves deadlines, I often don’t start composing them until Sunday: I want to change that. There have been a number of weeks in my long career with The New Yorker wherein I would start my “batch” (as we call the weekly submissions) earlier in the week, and it feels good to do it that way. Calmer, maybe even more thoughtful. Although saying that, I believe there is something to last minute ideas that can really be wonderful.
I just scanned the New York Times and Washington Post headlines. There was a horrifying train collision in Greece, the war in Ukraine continues. Nothing there that inspires a cartoon—at least not the kind of cartoon I might draw for The New Yorker. They do run political, and I have sold many in my years there. But a train wreck with many deaths is not cartoon material, and the war (also with many deaths) is ongoing and not immediately topical for the magazine. The Chicago mayoral race could be of interest for a drawing, but there is nothing in there to me that speaks to the entire country, except maybe the opinion of some that Mayor Lightfoot lost her re-election bid due to crime. I know editorial cartoonists for newspapers are probably drawing about that, but what I do is slightly different than what they do.
It’s hard to explain, but for my drawing, it’s about looking for news that is in some way either universal or immediately impactful. If nothing jumps out, I start going more into my imagination….although just having read the headlines and a few articles, those seeds are in my brain and might emerge in a drawing that makes for a less obvious political cartoon.
For example, this one below were like that. For the first, I had read the news that week, and subconsciously was aware that the word “niche” was being used in politics.
Or this one was about the word “liberal” and a shift in political affiliations of the electorate at the time.
There are a lot of political shifts going on right now, and I have done a few in recent weeks on that. This recent one was published by The New Yorker right after the House speakership election of Kevin McCarthy.
So, maybe something will emerge as I draw today, something universal but with a hint of what’s happening in the world.
For my paid subscribers, I will share with you some drawings for today’s idea-getting! Also a reminder, we will have a zoom tonight at 5pm EST.