Frequently I check with our cartoon 'hero' Art Burshy whether he is still okay with my cartoons.
As a true artists he replies in a grumpy sort of way, like
"shouldn't you be making a new cartoon right now" or
"great that you found a new hobby, don't bother me with the rest" or
"it is not that bad for a lower art form" or
"did we already talk about the copyright"
But in the end all these expressions are just an indirect way to show he actually likes it.
It is just that as an artist you can not be too openly supportive of cartoons, or simple humour, or marketing exposure etc. And it is also nice how he sometimes simply provides me memories and ideas for new cartoons; things that he finds funny.
Most of the times I find these 'funny' ideas not at all funny (sorry Art, if you read this, probably good to talk about this soon... or maybe not)
often these ideas are even just very rude observations,
and insulting people is not necessarily funny, is it ?
Well, all in all I absorb his 'memoires' and allow them to circle in my mind for some time, waiting for them to surface. And often after some time they come out in form of a new cartoon.
Art then often tells me things like "how have you managed to screw up that brilliant idea" or "was that really the best you could make of it"; but at the same time he shows this big grin on his face, somehow enjoying in a hidden way that he is still part of the 'creative' thinking for the cartoon.
Even better source of ideas comes from his kids; they are not yet conditioned to understand and deal with the behaviours of their father. They still raise questions that are of great value to Art, or at least " that could be of great value to Art"; if he would only listen.
The good thing for me as a writer is actually that Art does not listen, and remains the unconditioned artist that he is. Because in a way humour is about the unexpected-that-could-be-expected. It is the surprise, while still realising that you could actually have seen it coming. Well, now I am getting carried away and taking a role I should not take; the writer should remain on the background, just offering the stage to our friend Art Burshy.
Well, then just to finish with the fact that I now started on the second paper notebook, after the first one was full. A milestone I had not in mind when starting, and the drawings still come quite naturally, and often when I travel in the Thalys between Amsterdam to Paris.
I think the key thing is that "I make these cartoons primarily for myself" and as such the pleasure of drawing and thinking of fun stuff to make is very close to me; my pitfalls, reflections, observations. And therefore there are many many more topics to cover...
