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I am loving exploring the world of graphic narrative. Recently, I wrote a short story graphic narrative about growing up and Narrative Magazine published it. You have to log in to see it.
Last week, I got a cartoon okay-ed by The New Yorker, which means my editor emailed me and said they wanted to buy a rough cartoon that I submitted that week. This one was political, and they wanted to run it in the next issue, which meant I had to do the finished drawing and email it to them by the next day. I love it when this happens…it has happened a few times for me. Maybe I’m a frustrated journalist–I love the buzz of news and reporting and commenting.
The issue I drew about was the McChrystal firing. The drawing (link in the magazine here) I share with you below. The idea of a general’s medals being for things other than bravery, etc, is not a new one for me. I have tried it before in cartoons that did not sell. Medals for not saying the word peace, medals for driving a hybrid….but this time, I used the format again and it was the magic formula. Cartoonists often do this– rework settings, formats, words with new ideas.
Not that this came easily. In my head and on the many pages of paper on my desk, I tried numerous different approaches to the McChrystal affair before I drew this one. There are countless ways to get at a subject, the key is to find a way to poke fun in a manner that will allow the cartoon to last beyond the immediate circumstances.
(copyright The New Yorker Magazine and Liza Donnelly)
Cartooning for Peace, and a journalist from the Italian newspaper Republicca, invited me to contribute a drawing about freedom of the press. I learned that in Italy recently, the issue is in hot debate. The government passed a law prohibiting the publication of wire tap transcripts, and many in the country are up in arms. Here below is the drawing, and here is a link to the online newspaper (if you want to see my drawing, scroll through the slideshow. It is on the homepage at the moment).
I met Helen Thomas last year at a conference called “Women and Power” at Omega Institute. We were presenters on the same panel about women and the media. She was funny, gracious, kind, opinionated. Among her many bon mots, she said (and I love this) that”If you want to know what’s happening in the world, read the comics.” (paraphrase, but close).
My feeling is that as we get older, we women learn to lose our inhibitions in many ways. Helen Thomas represents that clearly. We realize that being careful is not all that it is cracked up to, that being nice at the exclusion of ourselves should not always be the most important quality to have. Her comments on Israel and the Jews, however, went too far in my estimation. She is, of course, allowed her own opinion, but even she realized after the fact that what she said was not right. Her emotions got the better of her–I am not sure if it was because of her age. Maybe after years of being asked questions, she let her inner editor fall away when she shouldn’t have.
I am sorry she will end her career on this note…if in fact her career is ended. Maybe she should do stand-up. Sarah Silverman has shown that raw comments get a laugh from many. In my cartoons, I try to be uninhibited but thoughtful, not hurtful, and not provocative as in pushing people’s buttons. I want to be like Helen Thomas, but not as she was last week.
The cartoon below was done last week (June 10, 2010) and has run in numerous online sites, starting with womensenews.org, then dscriber.com and now salon.com It’s getting a lot of comments, mostly in the form of dialogue between the commenters on their own opinions. As long as the comments don’t get nasty, dialogue is what we need.
Dec 1oth, 2009 was the opening of the traveling exhibit, “Cartoons in Conflict”, an collection of international cartoons concerning reconciliation and peace. I am fortunate to have my work in the show, catalogue and calendar. For more information and to view some of the art, see the articles below:
Perhaps like many New Yorker cartoonists, I always wanted to see my drawings animated. A few weeks ago, through the group PinkSlip Animation (of which I am a member), one of my drawings has come to life! Mike Milo, a very talented and experienced animator, said he would animate my sequential drawing. I did the drawing for Revolvingfloor.com, and now it is live! Note that the sound plays automatically, something that is going to be fixed soon.
About a month ago, I thought of an idea for a New Yorker cover. This happens from time to time, I can’t help it. The cover editor is very kind and on one occasion she almost bought a cover from me (the did buy it to run inside the magazine). This happened again this time–my cartoon editor, Bob Mankoff, and the cover editor, Francoise Mouly seemed to like my idea. The problem was, they had already commissioned Chris Ware to do the Halloween cover. Ah well.
Editor Michael Cohn of Revolving Floor loved the drawing and wanted to publish it. It went up yesterday.
I appeared on French Web-TV last week with my new cartoonist friend, Valerie Delacherie. If you want to cut to our segment, go to 7:50 on Emission 4. Oh, how I struggled with the French language!
I was honored to receive the International Prize at the Salon du Dessins de Presse et d’Humour in St Just, France. I was given two beautiful statues: a porcelaine cow and cartoon character. My French colleagues pictured here received the Regional Awards, and we were joined by students, who presented the awards to us.
French cartoonist Valerie Delacherie and I were interviewed on French Web TV.
The Exhibits. There were many, with cartoons from all over the world.
And there was also an Exhibit of cartoons from my book, Sex and Sensibility.
An interesting new news site, called dscriber, invited me to contribute cartoons…or panels or anything, really. I did this a few days ago in response to the hiring of Diane Sawyer as news anchor. I know the media and Hollywood love to create battles, particularly between women, so I drew this cartoon. The sad thing is, the public eats it up, and wants to believe that women hate each other. It’s hogwash, of course, and has to be shot down!
