Great piece. Very honest. I also wrestle with "it's for me, so so what if it's rough or not that funny or just obscure." 2026 will be a watershed for AI. I think many of us want to return to 100% analog. Using digital for promotion and community maybe, selling(if at all) work on paper.
I think the supply and demand of analog work will prove to be a new thing. It'll be so rare that it will be more valuable and more sought-after. But, at the end of the day, man does it feel like a form of meditation for me and that's all I really care about right now.
Way to go, Chris! There are always ups and downs in one’s creative life but, as I counseled my kids, if you look for a dream job (in your case the daily comic strip) you’ll be disappointed. But inside that dream is an activity… that’s what you really ache for.
If you work backwards from that activity instead of the outcome, you’ll find happiness. Is it the drawing? Is it the writing?
For me it’s both, the drawriting, making a comic that is unique to the medium, text image interdependence— not illustrated radio and not words on pictures. Sparky hammered that home in a speech to the NCS group at the 1994 Reuben weekend in La Jolla CA. I love form and that was my aha moment.
What is it for you that draws you back to the table? Whatever it is, you’re in the right path focusing on the doing, not the getting. Just another way to say “selfish drawing” maybe, I call it sanity sketching.
Like you, I like the process. And like you, since high school, I drew because I could make money. And that complicates head and heart.
But the two previous times I unchained the joy of the process from the business, I’ve grown exponentially. Good on you, Chris. Enjoying the doing!
Yeah. I use the cliché that cartooning isn't what I do, it's who I am. When you're on a deadline or have to draw something you don't necessarily want to, that's when it becomes a job. I just like having this just for me like I did when I was a kid.
And, also, there's this thing I see with newer cartoonists--a reliance on technology to do harder tasks and I feel like that pulls some of the joy out of creation.
And, I'm lucky to have the ability to make a living doing this, but a living that also affords me the time to work on something for myself.
Now if I can just figure out how to watercolor as good as you... :)
thanks for sharing! i know this wasn't the purpose, but your work on the Ordinary People series with Meltzer is GREAT! i always look forward to any other art - drawn or written - that you're willing to share. And I get it, oftentimes , selfish art is very fulfilling
Thanks for sharing this. I wanted to be a cartoonist and fell into UX design and building websites. I haven’t made the time to keep drawing but I’m trying to change that.
Great piece. Very honest. I also wrestle with "it's for me, so so what if it's rough or not that funny or just obscure." 2026 will be a watershed for AI. I think many of us want to return to 100% analog. Using digital for promotion and community maybe, selling(if at all) work on paper.
I think the supply and demand of analog work will prove to be a new thing. It'll be so rare that it will be more valuable and more sought-after. But, at the end of the day, man does it feel like a form of meditation for me and that's all I really care about right now.
I’ve always believed it’s important to draw just for your self! I do hope you post this strip, Chris! I liked what I saw.
Way to go, Chris! There are always ups and downs in one’s creative life but, as I counseled my kids, if you look for a dream job (in your case the daily comic strip) you’ll be disappointed. But inside that dream is an activity… that’s what you really ache for.
If you work backwards from that activity instead of the outcome, you’ll find happiness. Is it the drawing? Is it the writing?
For me it’s both, the drawriting, making a comic that is unique to the medium, text image interdependence— not illustrated radio and not words on pictures. Sparky hammered that home in a speech to the NCS group at the 1994 Reuben weekend in La Jolla CA. I love form and that was my aha moment.
What is it for you that draws you back to the table? Whatever it is, you’re in the right path focusing on the doing, not the getting. Just another way to say “selfish drawing” maybe, I call it sanity sketching.
Like you, I like the process. And like you, since high school, I drew because I could make money. And that complicates head and heart.
But the two previous times I unchained the joy of the process from the business, I’ve grown exponentially. Good on you, Chris. Enjoying the doing!
Yeah. I use the cliché that cartooning isn't what I do, it's who I am. When you're on a deadline or have to draw something you don't necessarily want to, that's when it becomes a job. I just like having this just for me like I did when I was a kid.
And, also, there's this thing I see with newer cartoonists--a reliance on technology to do harder tasks and I feel like that pulls some of the joy out of creation.
And, I'm lucky to have the ability to make a living doing this, but a living that also affords me the time to work on something for myself.
Now if I can just figure out how to watercolor as good as you... :)
thanks for sharing! i know this wasn't the purpose, but your work on the Ordinary People series with Meltzer is GREAT! i always look forward to any other art - drawn or written - that you're willing to share. And I get it, oftentimes , selfish art is very fulfilling
Thanks! I really appreciate it!
As someone who’s been following you since the Desperate Times days, I can’t wait to see this new personal project!
Thanks for sharing this. I wanted to be a cartoonist and fell into UX design and building websites. I haven’t made the time to keep drawing but I’m trying to change that.
I only wish I started earlier, but the next best time is today.