I had the pleasure recently to be on the podcast called The Illustration Department. We discussed art, cartooning, illustration and The New Yorker. I spoke with founder, Giuseppe Castellano. Here is the link.
Tag: art
Keynote Speech with Live Drawing for Medium
Finding who you are as a creative person — be it writer, visual artist, musician, is a life-long endeavor. If you really want to find your voice, you have to listen to yourself first and foremost. And be patient with yourself!
Last weekend, I was invited to speak at Medium Day and here is the recording. During the half hour, I talked about finding your voice and all the vicissitudes of that — both joy and pain. I drew for the camera as I talked.
Why is it we love to look at art, or listen to music or laugh at a cartoon? I think it’s the celebration of the human spirit that is at the core. We are all creative beings, some of us just express it differently than others. I believe doctors, lawyers, cooks, teachers, social workers, store clerks are all creative in their unique way. It’s all about that relatedness.
I sort of remember when I first saw a line drawing. I was drawing as a really young child, but when I discovered that there were others who did it too in books and newspapers, I was transfixed. I am not alone! Every line drawing I saw from then on was “mine,” meaning I felt it was done for me. I felt connected to that artist.
During my session, the Q&A function was not showing up on my screen, glitches happen! But there were many questions, and Medium sent them to me. I will try to answer some here in this post and more in a subsequent post.
Q: How do you get your ideas?
A: It’s a matter of sitting at your desk and drawing what comes into your mind. I look at the news and culture stories to spark my brain, particularly for topical things….what people are doing in this world! And I write it down, next to the doodles. And then sit with them all, and try to put things together.
Q: How was your mentality in the first few years of submitting to The New Yorker?
A: At first, I was full of hope and excitement. Once I sold one, I felt encouraged, almost like an intern. Then, the sales were really slow, and that was hard. I had a job, which was good to pay the rent. But it was hard to keep my focus and understand how to keep going forward. I almost quit. But happy I didn’t! It helps to confide in a trusted fellow creator, which is what I did. He helped me stay encouraged.
Q: How do you listen to yourself? Can you elaborate?
A: I guess what I mean is to be still and listen to where your mind goes, That’s for the creative part of finding what interests you, what words and ideas and concepts your mind gravitates to. Then it’s also about understanding why you are doing what you are doing.
Q: How do you balnace the political and partisan divide and keep your ideas more central to the issue at hand?
A: It’s tough. First of all, I try to take attacking out of the picture, although I have done my share of attacking politicians. But it’s a matter of reading a lot of news and trying to find the essence of what its about. For example, what is the partisan stuff all about? Why are we like this? Where does it come from? It’s stepping back and looking at the big picture and not get caught up in my personal tastes or dislikes.
Q: How do you silence the negative thoughts in creative work?
A: I once heard from a writer (wish I could recall the name of who it was) that you have to acknowledge those thoughts. Accept that they will be there, it’s normal. Then tell the thoughts to sit over in the corner and not bother you! Just keep doing, keep creating. Or, acknowledge them and take the afternoon off and do something else for a while. You will come back refreshed.
Q: What did you wear to the Oscars?
A: ha! I wore a black dress, of course! They require the press to wear black tie as well, and we are instructed to wear black or navy (no bright scarlet dresses!) so as not to overshadow the talent.
I will answer more of the questions in a subsequent post.
Here is a video Medium did about me, it was so fun.
https://noteworthy.medium.com/liza-donnelly-c848c1d06ac4
Yo-Yo Ma and Me
Recently, I was given the privilege to be onstage and draw and improvise with master cellist Yo-Yo Ma. It was an incredible honor.
I drew, he played. I watched him, and the audience; he watched me and my drawing as it appeared onscreen. It was a multiple collaboration. I responded to what he was playing, he responded to what I was drawing. In between the playing and drawing, we discussed many things, moderated by Stage Director Guy Ben-Aharon.
Some drawings were of the audience, some of Yo-Yo, and one was pure imagination in response to his playing.
Two arts interacting.
The final collaboration was about hope. Yo-Yo played a medley of songs of hope, I drew the audience. Why the audience? Because it was a diverse gathering, with people of all ages, races, colors and different communities. The Jar, where this was held, strives to bring together such gatherings through an intentional Convener Model. It’s a wonderful non-profit that you can read about, here. It was founded by stage director, Guy Ben-Aharon, who also beautifully moderated the evening.
The evening really felt like a community.
I learned so much. We talked and created about passion, fear, hate, anger, hope, laughter, joy. Art is about connection. The two of us connected as we created, but we also connected with those observing.
Art is interactive.
I hope we touched others. Through our expression, I believe we were able to provide a bridge between us all in our shared humanity.
After the event, we did a shoot in front of a large drawing I did earlier. These photos were taken by the amazing photographer and my friend, Eric Korenman
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Additional photos by Anna Olivella.
My History Of The New Yorker Cartoon Class
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I am passionate for learning about history through looking at drawings, specifically the drawings from The New Yorker magazine. 
Drawing by Barbara Shermund
I am teaching a virtual course on the history of The New Yorker Cartoon through the NY organization, 92NY. Here is a link to the course if you want to sign up! It starts March 16th and goes four consecutive Thursday evenings. Would love to see you there, and please spread the word.
Since it’s Women’s History Month, I thought I would share a few from women artists of the past. Through these drawings, sometimes one can see that things have changed; in many ways they have not. These artists chronicled their worlds with humor and drawing. Humor can reflect the zeitgeist of a time, and while sometimes we don’t “get” the reference, there are many that resonate 70 years later. It’s fascinating.
In my class, I will share New Yorker cartoons and talk about many different artists, both the men and women, as well as the few Black creators from the past (there was one that we know of before recent times, in the 1930’s, E. Simms Campbell). I talk about their work, their lives, the editors, and everything in between that I have learned. I taught this course last year in two sessions, and this year the 92NY agreed to extend it to four sessions, so I can take my time showing you things, and we can have questions after each class. We will discuss works up to present-day artists.
Enjoy!
How We Draw Ourselves
I wrote an article for the Washington Post, interviewing 7 cartoonists for The New Yorker about their thoughts on gender and their work drawing humor and drawing bodies…including their own!
I found what they said fasicnating, and I even drew small comics to highlight some of the artist’s ideas. Here are two samples:
Solo Exhibition!
It is a thrill to have my first retrospective at the Norman Rockwell Museum. The opening was July 10th and the show ran until September 27, 2020. You can see much of the exhibit on the Norman Rockwell site, as well as videos of me talking about my work. It is a wonderful museum dedicated to illustration and art for social justice. Rockwell was passionate that his paintings speak about important cultural and political issues, and I am honored to have my drawings beside his.
As part of the exhibit, I was invited to draw in Rockwell’s studio; I was the first artist to do so since his death in 1978. My reflections on Rockwell and the experience of working in his studio were published in The Washington Post: “In a sacred space: How New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly came to work in Norman Rockwell’s studio”
Below are three videos the museum made: one about my work in general, one is a capture of me painting a mural at the museum, and the other about my passion for live drawing on my iPad.
“Donnelly, a cartoonist and children’s book author, has been making wry, powerful cartoons for The New Yorker for more than 30 years. Don’t let the show’s name fool you: Charged with political awareness from feminism to Black Lives Matter, Donnelly’s career is a master class in using humor to heighten and amplify a dead-serious point of view.” -Murray Whyte, The Boston Globe.
