Tag: cartoons

Live Drawing The Golden Globes After Tragedy

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I often draw political events and awards shows on television. It seems to be something I enjoy and people enjoy seeing my quick sketches.  I have done it for a few years now for The New Yorker, BET, Theatermania, Fusion and Medium.  This time I did it for myself and my own personal audience….as I wasn’t even sure I could do it at all. The Golden Globes this year followed an incredible tragedy: it was so close to the deaths of the four cartoonists of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, and I was in such a fog about that, and still very sad. It seemed odd to being doing something so frivolous. But I decided–or imagined–that the four irreverent cartoonists who were killed would approve of my lampooning Hollywood. They would have done a much more forceful job of it than I, but that’s neither here nor there.

Above and below are the results.  I have a feeling that cartoonists were on people’s minds as they watched the Golden Globes (some actors commented on the tragedy), because my work got more attention than usual.  Cartoonists are being thought of.  It’s nice, I hope it lasts, but for better reasons.  Cartoonists are a wonderful asset to our society, I must admit.  I like cartoonists: they are, generally speaking,  good people. And we provide a much needed service.

My tweet drawings for the Golden Globes got a shout out on twitter from @NBC, and Retweeted and favorited by thousands of others.  The following day, my drawings were shown on the Today Show, I was profiled in People and also on USA Today.  Quite something.

It seems that people like cartoons, no matter whether they are hard hitting or silly. We all need to laugh.

 

Revenging The Deaths Of The French Cartoonists

Charlie hebdo deaths2My heart goes out to the families of the cartoonist and others who were killed in the senseless violence at the offices of Charlie Hebdo. Cartoons are incredibly powerful, and it is the responsibility of the cartoonist to use her power for good. The cartoonists who were killed did just that in their own way; it is a provocative way, but that is their right.  I mourn the loss of these cartoonists as champions of freedom of expression.  My solution to revenge their killing is to draw for peace at every opportunity.

The National Book Fair

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From The New Yorker

It’s been a while since I’ve done a book signing, in part because my most recent book, Women On Men, is an ebook.   But with print-on-demand,  it can be printed, and my publisher printed a whole bunch of copies and I was invited to sign them at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC on Saturday.  D.C. is my hometown– it will be nice to return for the weekend.

Here is a podcast for the Library of Congress,  where Martha Kennedy, director of the Prints and Drawings Division interviews me on my work and book.   I also was invited to donate some of my work to the collection, and it is a great honor for me to do so.

If you would to purchase a discounted signed, with drawing, copy of Women On Men, write me at liza@lizadonnelly.com

Emmy Drawings

-11With every national “entertainment” event on television—be it the Grammys, the Oscars, the Tonys, the Olympics, a last or first episode of a very popular TV show like Mad Men,  the State Of The Union Address, or the Emmys, I am compelled to live-tweet draw my impressions of what I see.  Recently, I have been hired to do so for various sites: NewYorker.com, Medium.com’s The Nib, BET.com, TheaterMania.com.  It’s a lot of fun, and its a way to communicate with my audience– a way to share in the event that is not just words (although I do use words sometimes in the drawing, and in the tweets). I love this, and hope to continue to do them.   The Vine recently wrote and called my Emmy sketches “beautiful,”  and Jezebel wrote about my Olympic drawings for The New Yorker.

If you would like to see all of my drawings that I did last night for the Emmys, go to  The NIb, link here.  Enjoy!

James Thurber and The Thurber Prize

When I was around six or seven, I was home sick from school and in an effort to make me happy, my mother gave me a pencil, a stack of paper and a book of cartoons. She knew I loved to draw, and knew this would help me get through the sick days.  The book of cartoons she gave me was called Thurber Carnival, a collection of work by the renowned New Yorker writer and cartoonist James Thurber.  His drawings are very simple, almost childlike, and I took to them immediately. I started tracing them.  Soon, I realized this made my mother smile.  I was hooked.  From there, I started to draw my own cartoon characters.  This is how I became a cartoonist.thurber-genderthurber-seal-bark

So it is especially wonderful for me to be a finalist for the Thurber Prize this year for my book Women On Men (Narrative Library).  It is the sole award in America for written humor, and is annually given out by Thurber House (the birthplace of James Thurber and an active literary center in Ohio). Thurber was a master humorist in both the written word and the cartoon, working primarily for The New Yorker in mid-century 1900’s. Past winners have included Jon Stewart, Calvin Trillin, Christopher Buckley and David Sedaris. The other finalists that were nominated along with me are David Letterman and Bruce McCall for their book “This Land is Made For You And Me” and John Kenney for “Truth in Advertising.”    We will gather in New York City at Caroline’s Comedy Club on September 30th, where we will all do a reading and then they will announce the prize.Women On Men COVER FINAL_sized edited-1

James Thurber

Ironically for me, one of the things that made some of Thurber’s cartoons so notable with the public were their misogynistic tone.  Thurber was married twice to strong women, and had a daughter, but his cartoons sometimes betray befuddlement and often hostility towards women, as did his wonderful humorous essays. Who knows if he personally was a misogynist (some say he was), or that he just used it as a comedic tool, not uncommon in the humor of his time.

 

As a child, I remember that his cartoon women perplexed me and scared the heck out of me. I thought, is this what I have to be when I grow up? A hag, an angel, a delusional waif, a love object…and nothing in between?

Maybe deep down, this is why I wrote Women On Men, a book about women relentlessly making fun of men. Pleatsbetter without youLovingly. My tribute to James Thurber.

Women On Men = Women Are Funny

Below is a selection of cartoons from my new book Women On Men, published by Narrative Magazine

I think women are funny. We know that loud and clear from watching the Golden Globes the other night, when Amy Poehler and Tina Fey killed as hosts.  They were so funny in a perfect way–just enough snark and intelligence. There is not a special kind of funny that women do, they are just funny. Like men are funny. Things are changing for women  in many regards, and sometimes I think the outrageous idea that women aren’t funny is an old topic. But like so many things–it is and it isn’t.  Famous comedians may be breaking the glass ceiling of humor from time to time, as well they should,  but Hollywood is slow to recognize women creators, directors and actors who are funny.  And in the day-to-day lives of ordinary women, humor is not an easy option. There are still misogynists out there who don’t want women to be funny,  so let’s keep talking about it until it’s totally equal!

You can purchase my ebook here, or write me if you would like a paperback hard copy, signed with a drawing inside. liza@lizadonnelly.com