This should be more obvious to me than it is. As with many creative people, it took time to establish my career. Early on, there were steps forward, (a great art director job out of college)...pauses (rejections from large media syndicates, where one comic strip is chosen from over 6,000 submissions received each year)...forward (two comic strip syndication contracts)...steps back (over 3,200 newspapers closed after I signed those contracts.)
I stayed with it - drawing and writing - while working side jobs early on, before it became a full time thing. I have friends and colleagues who are on that same nonlinear artist’s path, and it can be challenging.
Like most people, I am so caught up in the rhythm of things now, that I often forget the path behind. I once only dreamed of making a good living writing and drawing. Today I took a breath and thought: I am thankful for the career I have now - and even more so for other things, like family, and friends.
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There has been no advertising or publishing work discussed here in many moons, so, I'll share a few recent things:
McKesson Healthcare decided this year that they wanted to create a regular comic strip for their 31,000 employees. They are a pharmaceutical and medical firm, (and larger than Microsoft, Ford or General Motors, which was a surprise). That inherent complexity made for a lengthy hiring process.
The cartoons appear on each of their employee's computers/devices at sign-in, so that security is on one's mind to begin the day. A new cartoon about a new subject runs each month. (To be honest, I get tired of seeing the same thing on my monitor say, 30 times. I change my screensavers often. So, I can sympathize with any McKesson employee who's 'had enough' of a cartoon by the end of each month.)
The response thus far has been positive, and even their CEO recently got in touch with an idea for next month's subject. It's been a lot of fun, thus far.
A separate division within Fidelity decided that they wanted new cartoons, and they sent RFPs a group of cartoonists. After a few MS Teams meetings, I ended up with an offer.
The cartoons will cater to their commercial customers, both the newsletter and website. The subject: Artificial Intelligence, IT, and online security. (There's a pattern here.)
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A commissioned illustration to celebrate the retiring Director of the Pleasantville Music Festival in New York. Bruce Figler presided over this grand festival for 8 years, and this piece will be printed, famed and given to him at his retirement party in early January.
Over the past year I’ve been doing pen, ink and watercolor portraits for an upscale dining club in Norwalk, Connecticut. (Background on that ongoing commission is in this journal post.)
The past month, Martha Stewart and her manager were in the restaurant, became members, and, of course, the owner was happy about that. (It also meant that their images would join the pen & ink drawings framed on the wall.)
They sent me some photos and interestingly, the request for Martha's piece was to draw her with her cat. (Sharp-eyed readers will notice that this has a bit less exaggeration than my usual caricatured pen and ink portraits.)
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A magazine illustration - for an article covering western states energy policy decisions.
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I signed a contract last month to create 12 monthly advertising cartoons for Amalgamated Insurance in New York. (That sounds like a company name from a Bugs Bunny cartoon, doesn't it?) Here is the first piece:
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One of several cartoons created this month for Causeway Software, in the UK.
Stopping for refreshments at Keystone Lake
Looking west, from the end of the bike trail.
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The next three weeks are going to be a blitz of deadlines...then a family Holiday vacation near Chicago, visiting my Mom as well as my brother and his family.
I love my work, and I can get lost in it sometimes. I've even been stupid enough to bring work with me, on vacation. (I finally realized my error).
