In the Writer Spotlight Mark Anderson creator: Andertoons™

May 1, 2010

Thank you for agreeing to this email interview. I hope to live up to some high journalist standards, poking and prodding to get to the truth. Well, never mind, how about we just examine the mind of a cartoonist? Mark, I would really enjoy a bit of background info about where you are as a career cartoonist, how your path zigzagged or followed a beeline, and what quirky tidbit we could learn to gather ransom later.

I’ve been a professional cartoonist for about ten years now, and full time for almost seven.

Before cartooning I was in sales. I sold screws, metal, and advertising. While I can’t say any of the jobs were loads of fun, they did give me plenty of business experience that I use to this day.

So, let me begin by firing a bunch of questions at you:How does your day begin, let us be as voyeuristic as you allow. Some writers share a complete step-by-step routine and others just give an outline.

You know, I’m also a stay-at-home dad, so my days tend to go like this:

Check email, then wake up the kids.
Breakfast/tweets/blogging.
Drop the boy off at school/run errands/hit the gym.
TV time for the girl, draw/write cartoons like crazy for an hour.
Lunch.
Drop off girl at preschool, rush home to draw/write for another hour or so.
Pick the kids up from school, snack, pick up the house.
Say hi to the wife as she comes home, last minute work before dinner.
Eat, put the kids to bed, watch TV, check email, collapse.
Repeat.

Tell us, do you have favorite tools, tech toys, writing aids, etc. that you’ve purchased or hope to acquire? And how do they fit into your creative process?

I switched over to Apple a few years ago and I couldn’t be happier with how much easier their stuff has made my life.

I also surround myself with books, magazines, LEGO, cards and plenty of pencils.

While you are creating your strips, does anything shut that process down—is there a specific thing that may happen which flips your switch off? And do you keep an ideal word count in the back of your mind, or how well a topic may be received by readers?

I sort of write whenever and wherever I can, but often I do have a very specific block of time to write a certain number of cartoons.

As far as word count or topics, no, I generally don’t limit myself. For example, I did a slew of Lone Ranger cartoons just the other day. Why the Lone Ranger? No idea, but they made me laugh so they’ll get drawn up.

What’s in your trash? Are you a shredder, slasher, recycler or something else? Do your scrap sheets of paper, such as shopping lists, contain discarded work? How often do you edit, start over, or shed an idea?

When an idea or sketch is done being useful, into the recycling bin it goes. I do save my original inks, but they just go in a pile in a box. Someday I’ll have my assistant organize them, but that’s probably a long ways off.

What are you favorite topics, are there any that are taboo, and what kind of risks have you taken?

Pretty much anything is fair game to me as long as it’s funny. I don’t do much political work because that requires a lot of staying up on the news. My favorite topics are probably business, kids, animals and technology.

Many of your comics seem to highlight the trendy language often found by someone w/ a finger on the pulse of business. How do you stay fresh, current, and in touch with trends, techniques, clichés, and jargon? One of my favorite cartoons is your use of the term “unleash a bold initiative.” Would you share how you came to that phrase?

I just read the paper or listen to the radio and things pop out at me. Just yesterday I ran across the phrase “boy genius” online. It struck me that that was ripe for mockery and I wrote something down to be drawn up later.

George Carlin is one of my heroes, and although I don’t have the command of language he did, I love playing with words.

The next question may catapult us into the past. I understand you were in the 9-5 market, what did you do, when did you know you wanted to leave that world and jump full-time into cartooning, and would you describe your first week after you moved to self-employment?

I left my last 9-5 job selling online ads to car dealers when our son was born. My wife and I had wanted one of us home with the kids, and since I could work from home (and hated my job) it made sense.

It was certainly stressful at first, and scheduling continues to be a challenge, but all in all it’s worked out extremely well.

Let’s go back a bit more in time. Did you draw or create comics as a child? What comics did you read and who was your favorite character? When did you realize you had talent, and who were some of your mentors?

I drew all the time as a kid. I traced comics and comic books, drew my own, and I read a lot of joke books. I guess looking back my job now makes total sense.

My favorites as a kid were Peanuts, Bloom County and Calvin & Hobbes. Later I discovered Peter Arno, Jack Ziegler and Charles Barsotti, who continue to inspire me.

Now, a shift to the future, shall we jump into the next generation of cartooning? What does the new technology offer someone as diverse as you? Your line of licensed cartoons is available for newsletters, presentation and advertising stock that already stretches the imagination; will we see an app for Andertoons?

You know, I always have two or three tech projects in the works with my developers. The site is constantly evolving and improving, and that’s a real passion for me.

I’d love to put an app together for the iPhone, and the iPad has me drooling over its potential.

Wherever the leading edge of tech is, that’s where I like to be. That being said, I still do the art with good old ink and paper. Odd huh?

Since we’re on the topic of technology, would you indulge me in an activity I call, I Googled you. I’ll list a few search results and you share whether they yielded you, or another Mark Anderson. A Yes on No is okay, but a bit of your wit would be much more entertaining.

Product Reviewer. Examples: shower radio, book titled “Tequila Mockingbird: A book of Animal Cartoons,” and the movie, “The Best of Zagreb Film—Nudity Required.”

All me. I reviewed the book and movie for my blog, the shower radio I think just liked a lot and gave it a review on Amazon.

Hiplogic CFO: Mobile Internet Developer.

Not me.

Writer: For the Love of Series (Football, Baseball, NASCAR, & O is for Obama).

Not me, but I get all kinds of mail asking me about them. I wish it was me.

Chicago Bears Defensive player.

Seriously not me. Although my physique is quite bear-like, and I love honey.

Trout Fisherman: owner of a lodge/fishing resort.

Not me.

Designer & Illustrator: Studio owner of sculpture, including side hobby collecting sports cards.

Not me, although I do collect cards with cartoons on them. I scan them in and put them on Flickr.

Spaceship Creator: creating rare & unique ships out of Lego resembling letters of the alphabet.

Totally me. I rediscovered LEGO after my son was born. I needed a hobby after my hobby became my job, and LEGO just sort of presented itself.

I think it’s just another creative outlet, and I love seeing what I can make the bricks do.

I also discovered a birthday tribute to you, from Mike Lynch. How cool was it to see the spinner rack acknowledging your work in magazine format? Do cartoonists have rivalries, alliances, or competitions?

LOL! Isn’t that great?!

Mike Lynch is my brother in ink and an incredible cartoonist in every way. We do compete for the same markets, but we’re always happy when the other guys sells.

I find that generally cartoonists are just about the nicest folks to hang around with. Except that one person. He know what he’s done… ;)

Let’s consider a scenario. You decide to have a dinner party and invite fellow cartoonists (alive or deceased). Who would be on your guest list, and how would you arrange the seating to create a great conversation flow?

Oh goodness… I gotta go with Schulz, Watterson, Arno, Addams, Kirby, Cooke, Groening, and Mike Lynch.

I’d love to meet at some bar and play exquisite corpse over pizza.

I read that you suggest one way to jump start the flow of creative juices is to take a scene you know well and throw in something random to see what happens. So, let’s go back to the dinner table. What’s on the table or in the room? And what caption do you offer us?

Addams’ Gomez is having dinner with Watterson’s Calvin. Next to Calvin is a ferocious tiger about to devour him. Gomez says “I see it too, but not how you describe it.”

The last question is three-fold: What is your advice for folks who want to break into the cartoon industry, what secrets would you reveal about self-syndication, and what mistakes should people watch for as they pursue a career as a cartoonist?

Read every cartoon book you can get your hands on, don’t believe anyone who tells you you’re killing the industry, and make sure to find people with money who agree that you’re funny.

Thank you so much for your time and knowledge, Mark. It has been a pleasure to read your work and prepare for this interview.

You can find Mark’s work here:

http://www.andertoons.com/

h t tp://www.andertoons.com/cartoon-blog/

http://twitter.com/andertoons