These are amazing gems. I’m going to keep this list close. Also, I may write this on the white board at the start of every class I teach: “I don’t always follow what I am telling you, but I try.”
As a long time doodler, I’m trying to learn from all the cartoons and drawings that I see at my senior years. I’m a constant doodler and it brings me happiness . Simplicity of lines coupled with meaning and messaging is truly a very difficult thing to achieve. I admire all forms of story telling and it is always a delightful thing to watch a good idea synthesized in one perfect drawing and a short caption. The examples are all great.
I really appreciate your words “I don’t always follow what I am telling you but I try”. It goes for teaching many skills and crafts - certainly for training therapists. I hope you write up your talk so we can reflect back on words of wisdom
Your 'talk' illuminates the essence of the cartoon. I want to hear your voice behind each of your drawings that reveals you and reveals the universal 'us'. It's taken me years to understand that explaining why I took a photo and what it means to me helps my viewer see both themselves and me more intimately. You are absolutely right, 'We love them because they are about us.' It makes all the difference.
My last Substack called 'Everything is Mine' shows two sisters fighting over control of a common friend. There are several ways I could have interpreted what I was watching. It could have been sibling rivalry. It could have been the difficult job of parenting two siblings. My daughter has a 3 ¾ year old boy and an 8 month old boy. I watch the interaction and parenting skills on a continuous bases, but when I started writing it, I realized it could also be a universal theme of how people who run countries try to negotiate the best deal for themselves. Protecting our survival. It's who we all are.
In news, journalists share ideas for the bulletin/edition and the editor delegates the reporting/writing within the team. I was surprised to learn this also happens in cartoons, given the deeply subjective relationship between the drawing and the artist.
“If a story is seed, then we are its soil.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Thanks Liza. Really enjoyed this post and the elements of great storytelling, which I find apply to all forms of creative expression. Good luck and have fun with your presentation. You’re gonna kill it! Touché 😜
There’s a special feeling of surprise and excitement when a single-panel cartoon highlights an experience or emotion you’ve had but never articulated, or maybe never paid special attention to. A little fizz of “oh yes that’s so true!!!” And I love so much that people can do that -- that cartoonists can see it and draw it, that readers can connect with it. It’s amazing.
I love the idea that we are us, in cartoons. So inclusive!
These are amazing gems. I’m going to keep this list close. Also, I may write this on the white board at the start of every class I teach: “I don’t always follow what I am telling you, but I try.”
As a long time doodler, I’m trying to learn from all the cartoons and drawings that I see at my senior years. I’m a constant doodler and it brings me happiness . Simplicity of lines coupled with meaning and messaging is truly a very difficult thing to achieve. I admire all forms of story telling and it is always a delightful thing to watch a good idea synthesized in one perfect drawing and a short caption. The examples are all great.
Another Master Class. With drawings. Which makes it brilliant.
Utterly captivating and enlightening.
Dreamworks is lucky.
I feel like the little girl in #3. So much bad news nowadays. Your drawings help a lot.
I really appreciate your words “I don’t always follow what I am telling you but I try”. It goes for teaching many skills and crafts - certainly for training therapists. I hope you write up your talk so we can reflect back on words of wisdom
Your 'talk' illuminates the essence of the cartoon. I want to hear your voice behind each of your drawings that reveals you and reveals the universal 'us'. It's taken me years to understand that explaining why I took a photo and what it means to me helps my viewer see both themselves and me more intimately. You are absolutely right, 'We love them because they are about us.' It makes all the difference.
My last Substack called 'Everything is Mine' shows two sisters fighting over control of a common friend. There are several ways I could have interpreted what I was watching. It could have been sibling rivalry. It could have been the difficult job of parenting two siblings. My daughter has a 3 ¾ year old boy and an 8 month old boy. I watch the interaction and parenting skills on a continuous bases, but when I started writing it, I realized it could also be a universal theme of how people who run countries try to negotiate the best deal for themselves. Protecting our survival. It's who we all are.
In news, journalists share ideas for the bulletin/edition and the editor delegates the reporting/writing within the team. I was surprised to learn this also happens in cartoons, given the deeply subjective relationship between the drawing and the artist.
Love this and the notion that a good cartoon or essay is brilliant and long-standing when it includes an experience "Everyman" can relate to.
❤️
“If a story is seed, then we are its soil.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes
Thanks Liza. Really enjoyed this post and the elements of great storytelling, which I find apply to all forms of creative expression. Good luck and have fun with your presentation. You’re gonna kill it! Touché 😜
There’s a special feeling of surprise and excitement when a single-panel cartoon highlights an experience or emotion you’ve had but never articulated, or maybe never paid special attention to. A little fizz of “oh yes that’s so true!!!” And I love so much that people can do that -- that cartoonists can see it and draw it, that readers can connect with it. It’s amazing.