Sketchbook Exposé #3
Very Dumb Drawings
But seriously though, these drawings are really dumb.
All the drawings I’m going to share today are from the past several weeks of trying to come up with single-panel ideas for The New Yorker. They’re sloppy as hell because I wasn’t planning on sharing them— but here we are.
Adult Marshmellow Test
I had the wildest experience a couple of months ago.
I met Bob Mankoff (the previous cartoon editor of The New Yorker)!
It all started when I got an email from a staff member at CartoonStock (once Cartoon Collections, an aggregate licensing site for cartoons started by Bob).
The person who reached out to me said that they had an inquiry into one of my New Yorker cartoons and would love to talk about licensing— then added, “By the way, Bob would love to chat if you are available”.
And I was like—
“BITCH!”
“R U FUCKING WITH ME?! SHUT UP.”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
— at least that’s what I said in my head. My actual reply was a little more restrained.
I ran into my partner’s office and yelled the news at him, then proceeded to not reply to the email for two weeks because I was emotionally overwhelmed.
(Yes, I am a very skilled businessperson.)
Finally, Mat was like—
“Did you reply to Bob Mankoff yet you stupid idiot?”
(He said it nicer, but this was the general sentiment).
After I finally grew some ovaries and replied to the email Bob immediately replied with times and we scheduled a Zoom chat.
When the day finally came, I sweated bullets and could barely comprehend the English language I was so nervous— but Bob was a pleasure to speak with. Me on the other hand, I cannot say, as I am pretty sure I disassociated.
My favorite part of the call is when he offered to give me feedback on some of my rejected cartoons. I restrained myself from more explosive profanities and simply said, “Yes, of course! Please!”
He brought up my Instagram account where I share all of my rejected ideas and walked through several of them with me.
He was very direct with his feedback, which I really appreciated. He said that a lot of my rejected cartoons were “half ideas”— like an idea had come to me and I just drew it and moved on— which is completely accurate.
He recommended that when I come up with an idea that I iterate on it more. He said for example to try out the premise from a different character’s perspective, or re-write the caption 10 different ways.
Basically what I’m getting at is that all the “cartoons” I’m sharing with you today are like… half-half-half ideas. Which I guess is 12.5% of an idea. Which means they’re kind of dumb. Please don’t hate me.
*Puts on “R U Mad @ Me?” sweater.*
Comments (Let’s Chat!):
Do you also turn into a non-functioning puddle when you meet your heroes?
Should I actually make the “R U Mad @ Me?” sweater?
Can anyone remember “Inisherin” who doesn’t also happen to be Irish? I’m terrible at remembering any proper noun. Who wants me on their trivia team?! I can draw great butts!
Listening to:
Bob's note was really interesting. It was sort of a macro note, but instead of giving the lame version (don't quit on your ideas, or take another pass, or bake these suckers until they're done), he offered a really solid methodology for taking that next pass. I've never met a comedic or writing hero of mine, but I'm certain I'd turn to useless goo if I did. Question for you. And I know nothing about drawing. I can't even draw stick figures. But do you sketch each iteration of a cartoon, or do brainstorm a bunch of possibilities and then sketch a few? Like, I'll write out some ideas and some jokes and if I see a few key scenes, I know I have a story, and then I go to a draft and then I rewrite the draft until it's done, or I'm done, or the deadline is here. But I'd be curious to know more about your process. I really enjoyed seeing these "very dumb drawings," btw! It's fascinating to see inside someone's craft, so thank you for sharing!
"After I finally grew some ovaries."
So perfect.