Andertoons Cartoon Blog

Cartoonists Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Knight

So recently Keith Knight posts this after crashing the NCS cocktail party:

Having been a member of the NCS, and having not renewed my membership, I agreed with pretty much everything Keith said.

Daryl Cagle responded and had some good, reasonable things to say.

Then the whole thing blew up at The Daily Cartoonist with the usual suspects calling each other names and blah blah blah blah blah...

*Sigh*

I was going to put a whole lengthy response together, but then decided I couldn't put it better than Ted Rall:

I can understand why cartoonists who are pros in every respect other than earning most of their income via cartooning would feel offended at not qualifying under NCS admission rules. Professionalism is like porn–you know it when you see it. And of course many well-paid pro cartoonists do really crappy work.

On the other hand, if a group isn’t interested in having you as a member, why would you want to join?

And then on the third hand (I’m an alien), it’s easier to join an existing organization and/or ask it to modernize than to start a new one from scratch.

I’ve long wondered why NCS doesn’t seem interested in becoming more than an annual drinking society for wealthy cartoonists. But it seems to me that the loss is really theirs, not the cartoonists they’re excluding. They’re like newspapers 20 years ago. They’re going to turn around someday soon and wonder why they’re going under. And it’s going to be because they decided, over and over, to reject the future and wallow in irrelevance.

Dead on, Ted. Dead on.

Technorati Tags: Andertoons, cartoon, cartoonists, cartoons, NCS, comics

New Cartoons

Cartoons by Andertoons

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted, but you'll be glad to know it's because I was hard at work doing a bunch of new cartoons!

Go check 'em out!

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics

Pixar "Stiff-arms... Children"

A really nice article over at Newsweek about Pixar's "Up" with a great short history of animation:

The little animation studio that could, Pixar was established in 1986 not as a cartoon factory but as a computer manufacturer. Many on the skeleton staff were cartoonists at heart, but the shorts they produced on company time were designed to promote the company hardware. When Toy Story, their pilot feature, was greenlighted in 1991, they rushed out to a screenwriting seminar. They were amateurs.

Check it out!

(BTW, Newsweek, love the new paper.)

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics, magazines

Article About Me in Home Town Newspaper

Recently I was interviewed by the North Scott Press, the newspaper from the small town in Iowa where I grew up.

Here's a snippet:

While his classmates at North Scott High School were aspiring to be doctors or bankers or high-powered CEOs, Mark Anderson was engaged in the serious pursuit of a minimalist art form that offers astute observations on the human condition.

OK, so he was doodling. While this is a practice that teachers generally discourage as an unwelcome distraction, it would be a harbinger of future success for Anderson, who has managed to parlay his passion for pictorial renderings into a thriving Chicago business called Andertoons.

You can read the whole thing here.

Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics

iPhone Cartoon Discussion

interesting little discussion here about comics and cartoons on the iPhone.

Can I just say that gag cartoons, the redheaded stepchild of cartooning, seems best positioned to take hold in this medium?

Just sayin'...

Technorati Tags: andertoons, apple, cartoon, cartoonist, comics, tech

Lynda Barry Trib Interiview

There's just a fantastic interview with Lynda Barry in today's Trib magazine.

A snippet:

Matt Groening says he tried to get Barry to go Hollywood in the '80s. "I said to Lynda, 'Let's write a romantic comedy,' and she agreed." A pitch meeting followed at a Los Angeles movie studio. Groening remembers walking into the executive's enormous office, where Barry immediately moved toward a cagelike sculpture in the corner and stood inside it.

"That was the high point," Groening says. When they sat on the sofa, Barry cheerfully told the exec that it was Groening's birthday.

"Happy birthday," the exec replied.

"It's not," Groening said.

"It is," Barry said.

"It's not," Groening said.

"Lynda insisted it was," Groening remembers. "I gave up and said 'Yes, it's my birthday.' I looked crazy."

Afterward, Groening was mortified. Barry remembers spittle plastering Groening's windshield. She says he was frothing at the mouth. Groening remembers his car shaking, but doesn't recall the spittle.

In any case, according to Barry, Groening felt she was torpedoing her career. He felt she wasn't taking herself seriously enough.

Go read!!!

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics

Economy Cartoons

Cartoons by Andertoons

Laughing may not be the best stimulus, but it can't hurt.

Enjoy these economy cartoons.

Technorati Tags: andertoons, business, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics

"Rub My Tummy and It's a Deal" a Best Small Business Book

You like it! You really like it!

I'd like to thank my wife, the academy, Lulu, Amazon, Anita at Small Business Trends, Ivana at DIY Marketers... I know I'm forgetting some people...

(music begins to play)

...and um, oh my, thank you so much!

(Check out the list here.)

Technorati Tags: andertoons, blogs, books, business, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics

Jay Kennedy Scholarship

Just a heads up that the NCSF Jay Kennedy Scholarship deadline is February 6.

Jay was just a swell guy who couldn't have been nicer to me starting out. I'm so glad this is available to budding cartoonists in that spirit.

More info:

The annual Jay Kennedy Scholarship, in memory of the late King Features editor, was funded by an initial $100,000 grant from the Hearst Foundation/King Features Syndicate and additional generous donations from Jerry Scott, Jim Borgman, Patrick McDonnell and many other prominent cartoonists. Submissions are adjudicated by a panel of top cartoonists and an award is given to the best college cartoonist. The recipient is feted at the annual NCS Reuben Awards Convention attended by many of the world’s leading cartoonists.

Applicants must be college students in the United States, Canada or Mexico that will be in their Junior or Senior year of college during the 2009-2010 academic year. Applicants DO NOT have to be art majors to be eligible for this scholarship.

Along with a completed entry form, applicants are required to send 5 samples of their own cartooning artwork; noting if and where the work has been published (either print or web).Please send copies. DO NOT send original artwork.

DEADLINE: FEBRUARY 6, 2009

The applications will be judged by the National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF) and the number of scholarships given out and their amounts will be at the discretion of the NCSF.

Seriously, if you're a young cartoonist, get on this.

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics

WSJ Cartoon

I love it when I'm in the Wall Street Journal! And what a great way to end the year!

Here's a link to the cartoon. Enjoy!

(Thanks to all who sent this in!)

Technorati Tags: andertoons, cartoon, cartoonist, cartoons, comics