As a professional cartoonist, time can be a lot more challenging a factor than many people might think. For some aspirants, there is sometimes a perception that being a working cartoonist is an easy life of liesure. Nope - that would be incorrect. In truth, it's neither easy nor leisurely, particularly in today's environment. I'm often approached for advice by younger cartoonists who have developed the aforementioned perceptions, and only after jumping into the arena do they discover that it's not so easy after all.
One essential element in finding success as a cartoonist, and I'd imagine in most other pursuits, is organization and time management. A critical part of what we do is write. For me, I have to have quiet, I have to be well rested (an increasingly rare commodity), and for lack of a better discriptive term, I have to be inspired. I find that early mornings are most conducive to quality writing for me, before everyone wakes up, and the distractions of the day begin to flow.
For the art portion of cartooning, I tend to reserve that for evenings. I can sit at my desk and work on pencil roughs, inking, and the more mechanical end of cartooning. A little classical music, a glass of wine, and I'll work for hours and hours.
It's impossible to make a living as a cartoonist if no one sees your work. That said, submissions and marketing are a necessary part of a successful cartoonists work week. Social networking is the method du jour, although more tradional marketing techniques such as mailing postcards and advertisements are still used with varying degrees of success.
It is not entirely unusual that I start my day before 6 in the morning, and depending on what has to be done and impending deadlines, I might be working past midnight. There have been occasions, although not too many, where I worked straight through the night. Not a big fan of those. But when your mortgage and car payment are dependent on your delivering quality work on time, you do what you have to do.
With commitment, passion, and the desire to always improve, a handsome living can still be made as a cartoonist and humorous illustrator. It just takes work and must be run like any other business. But what a great way to make a living!
Labels: business cartoons, cartoon markets, cartoon techniques, cartooning, cartoons, new yorker cartoons, office cartoons, professional cartooning, professional cartoonist
