These questions were posted a while ago in the comments section of a previous cartoon, and I totally missed them. I am asked this stuff a lot, so “Toaster” I hope you don’t mind my posting these in the main area of the blog for all to see…

Matt,
1) Drawing techniques. You inspired me to lay aside my pencils and pick up an ink pot and nibbed feather to draw political cartoons for my college newspaper. I’ve been using some black India Ink for this, and have been having problems loading enough ink on the nib to draw the entire line I want to at any given moment without having the ink initially coming off in huge unsightly globs. The only nib I have is old and dull, could this be the problem or is it just something I have to accept when using nibs?

Raid your piggy bank and buy yourself some new nibs. they are around a buck a piece.
I use Hunt 102 crowquills – Which some other editorial cartoonists I know HATE to use. They are actually made of steel and clipped into a plastic pen holder thingy, rather than the finely sharpened bird feather preferred by monasteries worldwide, as many assume. I would suggest procuring a selection of different types of nib from your friendly neighborhood art supply store, then find the one that works best for you. And bear in mind, that they do wear out. Many cite the issue you talk about, with the ink running out in middle of drawing a line. It just takes practice either to prevent that from happening, or to learn to tolerate that, I’m afraid. The ink I use is Higgins Black Magic, which used to be excellent, but the stuff they’ve been selling lately isn’t as good and clogs easily. They must have changed the formula. Add to that the price of gas, and I’m starting to get grumpy…

2) Your drawings. I’ve been trying to figure out where you start your caricatures. Looking at your Obama and Clinton caricatures, it looks like you start them with their noses, frame their nose inside their face, and then fill in the rest of the face. McCain looks like he grew up from his jowls. But your Bush caricature looks like you started with his eyebrows and then his nose, then drew his chin. Am I way off the mark here?

You know, I never really paid much attention. But I’m pretty sure I start with the nose with everyone. It’s kind of the caricaturic anchor, upon which all else hangs. I should note that McCain’s jowls were created and sent down from the heavens specifically for the cartoonists.

3) I am graduating from my university soon. This means that I am also going to lose my soapbox. But I want to continue to draw political cartoons (though not full-time, because I’m also trying to become a 1337 scientist). Do you have any advice as to how I could possibly get some publication somewhere to maybe run my cartoons once weekly? Or even for an online publication?

I would send my stuff to different publications (local papers, free weeklies etc) and offer to let them publish some local material. That’s how I got started. Expect to do it for the raw satisfaction and enjoyment, rather than the money, at least initially. Also, when I started, (which wasn’t THAT long ago…) the internet was merely a curious and novel distraction. I would now submit work to my favorite websites and see if they bite. But again, don’t look for big riches. That is what your day job will be for, as I understand 1337 scientists are absolutely making a killing these days. (Alright…I have no idea what a 1337 scientist is…) If you’re patient, have some talent, work hard (and are very lucky) you can make a really good living drawing cartoons, but rarely (if ever) overnight. Obviously, you can also publish your own stuff on your own website to your heart’s content and hope that a few million people will come looking every week. Then you can live off ad revenue and drive around in an overpriced German sports car…

Good luck, Toaster. Hope this helps you (and any other aspiring cartoonists/1337 scientists!)

When I was a kid, I recall peering at the ceiling, trying to comprehend the ramifications of the world running out of oil. Back in the mid 1970’s, the best teacher I ever had (Mr. Allan) said that fossil fuels were a finite resource, and we would probably start to run out in 50 years or so. The simple lesson was that we should marshal the intelligent use of our resources, so that we could squeeze an extra few decades out of the oil we had, and spend the time developing replacements, so as not to harm our economic and environmental self-interest. Not even he could have predicted the vast, unsustainable growth in demand that ensued over the next three decades. It was also sort of disappointing to discover that money turned out to be the primary human focus all along. Sigh…It all seemed so simple when I was nine years old.

And I almost forgot: Happy Earth Day (whatever that means…)