We don’t have four dogs, and I don’t have a purple shirt. But this is the joy of cartooning, you can make stuff up. I drew this yesterday during my zoom with my paid supporter/subscribers, screensharing my iPad while we talked about the state of the world… and I drew this so they could watch it unfold on the zoom. Drawing dogs makes me happy, as does zooming with my supporters. I hope it made them happy.
The mass murder shooting in Illinois was just so horrifying, on top of everything else. I can’t draw another gun, although I am sure I will. What I want to draw is Trump going to jail, Guiliani too, Putin saying to cameras that he’s sorry and is pulling all troops out of Ukraine ( I could say something darker, but I won’t go there). I want to draw a cartoon about the moment when abortion is legal again for anyone who wants one. I could go on, of course.
Drawing dogs—or drawing fun cartoons for The New Yorker—is something I hope helps people cope. But I also enjoy drawing cartoons that mean something and are not just about a smile or chuckle. I wish I felt like cartoons can change things. All they can do is, as I said, is make people feel better for a moment, share in the joy of life. They help us communicate with one another. I do wish I could communicate with those who disagree with me politically, draw a cartoon that would set up a dialogue about issues. A girl can hope.
During the pandemic I drew for my audience on Instagram live every single day, and we talked and comiserated. It helped me and I think it helped viewers as well, in fact some of them told me it did. I lost one or two viewers there when I got political, they told me so, and I was sorry to see them go—but it was their choice, of course.
The cartoon below was bought by The New Yorker during the Iraq war. I think it’s important to pay attention to difficult subjects, but sometimes we need to throw the ball for the dog.
I want to draw for viewers again, talking about issues as I draw. Perhaps I will increase my zoom gatherings for paid supporters to be more often than monthly. Stay tuned, let me know your thoughts.
In the meantime, try to stay calm. It’ll get better.
Happy to say that I was in yesterday's subscriber share-time with Liza Donnelly. It was was my first. And it was, by far, my favorite thirty minutes or so of the day. A gift to my self. Wish I had known about daily "pandemic-share" back in the day, but moving forward with eyes, ears and mind wide open for more to come.