For Illustration Friday, subject: Perspective.

When I first started cartooning I realized that I knew nothing about perspective. I looked at other cartoonists’ work and was amazed at how they had  several things in the drawing, all the proper size!

I bought (easy) books, asked people, but most of all I practiced, and studied how other cartoonists did it.

Eventually, I realized that it. doesn’t. matter. But that took years! It’s okay to ad lib, and even better to be spontaneous.

I know there are some artists who naturally think in 3 dimensions. Sculptors, maybe painters, those types of people. But not me. Two dimensions all the way. You could call me Flat Donna, and take me with you wherever you go, and I’d be happy.

I think it was Mick Stevens who drew an amazing desk in one cartoon, all trapezoid, where you could see the whole surface and it was extended all the way towards the bottom.

I’m still trying to draw that desk. This was a good try.

Caption: Mrs. Thomas, make me a buddy list.

Remember AOL?  Yeah, that.

This tweet below, from a man who is one of the best selling single-panel cartoonists in the country -  his drawings of big nose, big feet, bug eyes, to go with his obvious gags, must please the most obvious editors, obviously.

I do so many tech cartoons, I figure it’s time to get on Twitter and see what it’s all about.

Ya think?

This is why single panel cartoons and magazine cartoons are a dying breed. There are many cartoonists like him, using a style they learned 40 years ago, with the same type of 1950’s humor – ie, puns, a word twist, easy stuff. No thought or research required. Stuck in their own rut, afraid to try anything new. Whatever works, right?

I’m a pragmatic capitalist, so yeah, up to a point.

But it’s not art, and you’re not trying, and you don’t care, and I could never call you a good cartoonist. Even though I wish I had your income.

Thin people look younger. Take heed, Los Angeles.

Topic for Illustration Friday: skinny.

This is also Wordless Wednesday, but forget that idea right now. I will never be wordless. Back when people designed stationary I designed some for editors that said at the bottom, …because pictures speak louder with words. A cartoon is not an illustration, and vice versa!

In a good cartoon, the words and pic work together, and one without the other isn’t so funny. If the gag doesn’t work, it’s just stupid. But if it’s a good gag, you need to up your drawing to keep pace with it, and make it even better. There’s a background, a time and place and future in a good cartoon. It’s your stage, so use it wisely.

I did this cartoon for my 2nd book, Love Me or Go To Hell: True Love Cartoons. One of my great cartoon contributors, Stephanie Piro, had thought up the first part of the title a few years ago, and offered it for this project. I added the 2nd part, to make sure readers knew it was a book about loving men, not hating them!   Read more »

Some good things happened in May, but I can’t think of that many right off the bat. Mostly I was dealing with having my cartoons stolen and used in certain liberal hate websites. I certainly haven’t finished with that yet. And then being called the R word (r-acist) in those hate sites. (I told an editor at the LA Times that this crap had happened and that I was being called the “r” word. He said, “What do you mean?” I blushed a little (even though it was on the phone) and said, “r- acist“, and he said, “Oh. I thought you meant Republican.” Those wacky LA Times editors! Oh, and it was Tony Pierce. :) )

• I did do some excellent new cartoons for Slate. Always happy when I like my own work.
• I got Wonkette to stop using my cartoons, after weeks of the most vicious, vile, sexist comments there, in the usual spewing Gawker way.  Also, their hotlinking is not cool,  and is theft of bandwidth. Actually, I notice Wonkette hardly links to anyone. Great, non-2.0, selfish policy you got there, people.
• I got to go on John & Ken! You can listen here: podcast or here
• I gained 5 pounds this year, which is most decidedly NOT good, and I know it’s because of the stress of adding on political cartoons, and Slate. But I’ve lost one of those pounds, and hope I’m on the way down now.
• I’ve always been impressed by the outspoken, beautiful rabble-rouser, Jill Stewart, and she wrote a little something on me in the LA Weekly.

Also, because I ignored most media for a while, I got to concentrate on my new blog, The Opposite of Wrong, my political and editorial cartoons.

I really love designing new WordPress blogs! It’s very frustrating at times, but so much fun to kick it into what you want it to do, and want it to look like.  I love the way this new one turned out – uses fonts as a big part of the design. I had been thinking for a while that I wanted to separate my political cartoons from general gag cartoons. Really, they’re two different genres! And after the maelstrom last month, when the bad libs decided they should find out everything about me they could – including the name of my CANARY – I decided I really want to separate the two. This is my New Yorker cartoons and whatever entertains me. That is my political cartoons. Okay.