This week’s cartoon, a series of one-panel gags, Sketchbook, was inspired by a combination of two people. First, I went to see Chicago author Amy Krouse Rosenthal talk about the how-to’s of publishing. One of the standout things she said was that an artist/writer should always keep a journal. “Having a home for your interesting thoughts and ideas,” she promised, “will increase the occurrence of those thoughts and ideas.” A few weeks later, I interviewed Chicago cartoonist Jeffrey Brown for Sequential Tart. He was kind enough to bring his sketchbooks for me to see. They are his books. I mean that he literally draws in sketchbooks all the time. His books arise straight out of them. He scans the pages and sends them to his publisher.
I’ve kept a sketchbook where I record and develop cartoon ideas for about four years. I’ve kept a journal at times, though I ultimately find journaling embarassingly adolescent… “Dear Diary, Today was just swell!” It makes me feel as if I should put little hearts over all the i’s instead of dots. But I liked the idea of combining my cartoon idea book and my random thoughts, so since my old sketchbook was full, I started keeping this combination book. And this week’s cartoons arise from the results.