Recently in Letters to a young cartoonist Category

"Red tape!" he exclaimed, shaking his fist in mock rage. "It's a huge obstacle for us. We are getting so big so fast that we always seem to need a few more rules here, a bit more paperwork there.

Visits to conferences, going to workshops, attending launches, networking in the local comic book store or just simply talking to a colleague. You always have the intention of just interacting, or with one thing in mind. And yet you come away with more than what you went for in the first place. Many times had I gone to a conference, given a talk at a conference or seminar with the intention of learning or teaching one thing. Yet I leave with something else. These are lessons that come well after school, after college, apprenticeships, training or even University. They're not full courses, they're a few sentences long. It feels like getting a mini degree in a matter of a few minutes.

Here's an example, and it's from a DVD I bought some time ago as I enjoyed it so much.

No thinking - that comes later. You must write your first draft with your heart. You rewrite with your head. The first key to writing is... to write, not to think!
Sean Connery, Finding Forrester

Even a film can give you a mini degree. These few lines from the movie have provided me inspiration when i've needed the most.

Dream on Silly Dreamer is a Documentary about the death of Disney’s hand-drawn animated films. On March 25, 2002, 200 artists were told they were being replaced with computers and that Disney was going to follow the money instead of leading with tradition.

The Touch of the Master's Hand

It was battered and scarred,
And the auctioneer thought it
Hardly worth his while
To waste his time on the old violin,
But he held it up with a smile.
"What am I bid, good people", he cried,
"Who starts the bidding for me?"
"One dollar, one dollar, Do I hear two?"
"Two dollars, who makes it three?"
"Three dollars once, three dollars twice, going for three",
But, No,
From the room far back a grey haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow,
Then wiping the dust from the old violin
And tightening up the strings,
He played a melody, pure and sweet,
As sweet as the angel sings.

The music ceased and the auctioneer
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said "What now am I bid for this old violin?"
As he held it aloft with its' bow.
"One thousand, one thousand, Do I hear two?"
"Two thousand, Who makes it three?"
"Three thousand once, three thousand twice,
Going and gone", said he.

The audience cheered,
But some of them cried,
"We just don't understand."
"What changed its' worth?"
Swift came the reply.
"The Touch of the Masters Hand."

And many a man with life out of tune,
All battered with bourbon and gin,
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like that old violin.
A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on.
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.
But the Master comes,
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand,
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the Touch of the Master's Hand.

"The Master's Hand" was written by Myra Brooks Welch. She was called "The poet with the singing soul."

I was asked recently about my cartooning career during a chat with some friends. One question related was now that I

look side-ways to the people I used to look up to

how has my perceptions changed of myself or them. The only real difference I have made to meeting "celebrities" or people of note has been that they are essentially just people. Normal people. And I treat them that way, as I would to other friends or family. When I was in KL, I was given the chance to meet some of their most well know celebrities. I had no idea who they were and on what scale, and I found it refreshing that I could chat to them without having to choose too much about what to discuss with them. I think people place others on a pedestal out of respect for their achievements, but they do forget that they are just another human being. I respect those whom I looked up to in my career, but I won't place them on a pedestal above me. They are my equals.

The cartoon field is fairly saturated here in Australia. There's always someone out there who maybe not as skilled who is willing to work for less money. That's a problem we have. And we aren't saturated by means of there being plenty of work abound. There isn't. There are less opportunities around now as the industry adjusts and opens itself to accepting the artform for what it does best. 3D illustration and animation certainly hasn't helped the issue as interest from Pixar films and the like build interest in clients seeking more three dimensional characters to represent their ideals. But I do believe that this bubble will burst, and the current trend for 3D illustration will fade to a more moderate level. Even Disney realised this recently when it announced it would be producing a 2D feature film from its US studios.

I'm asked often about how to get in to this industry. And it's getting harder to answer that question. I felt I needed to point this situation out. I'm not hard up for work, I take what I am interested in. I don't accept just any old job anymore. I have the luxury of being choosey. It was me who decided I'd had enough of drawing and not for the enjoyment of it. Frankly, I'm not going to do 3D work and have no interest in it. I admire and enjoy watching what others do with it. But frankly the whole idea of 3D has removed the artist even further from being artistically talented to technically savvy. The majority of people I've met who are in 3D can't draw. Yet they're animators. I find that hard to handle. The jobs are becoming more about technology than who has creative talent. Factory work at its best. Train someone in Maya and you've got an instant monkey for the factory. I haven't anything against those who do amazing work in the field, i'm just miffed that much of where my income came from is now being given to someone who is trained in manipulating a 3D puppet.

Feelings are about how we interpret an event, how you think or react to it. The same event would be interpreted by many others in a very different manner. We're conditioned from an early age to represent certain events, like a death for example, as tragic. Yet others see this as a time to celebrate. You see, events have no meaning but what meaning you assign to it. And by assigning a meaning to the event, is what causes you to feel a certain way.

For the algebra inclined, lets use this sum I was once shown: E + R = O (Event + your Reaction to it = Outcome). Now whilst you have no control over the Event, you have complete control over the Reaction. In essence you have control over half of the formula. Far more than most people think they have.

Here's an example, someone told me once that I wasn't a very good artist. I only felt bad about it because I believed it myself. But I didn't have to think that. What he said to me was only half the formula. I only felt bad because I agreed. What I should have told myself is that I am only in the early part of a long journey as an artist, my art will only get better. My self esteem won't go down, if anything it will go up! Between stimulus and response lies opportunity for a conscious choice.

Charles Schulz was failed at art school in the subject of drawing children. Colonel Sanders was knocked back over 1200 times when trying to sell his secret recipe around America, don't know about you but I would have probably given up after the first 10 knockbacks. How many times has Donald Trump been bankrupt, yet he continues to even greater wealth. You can be dumped by your girlfriend, be suicidal, get divorced, have an alcohol problem and still bounce back. Billy Joel did. I remember slaving during my career in animation and earning $60 one week! thinking about how I'm going to survive, I've been married:getting divorced, I've had alcohol and substance abuse and feelings of suicide with constant personal doubt. Survive I did.

From these few people I mentioned, you can see how someone can turn a seemingly negative event into an empowering experience. And following the unviversal theory of balance, there is equally someone who can turn a positive experience into a soul destroyer. The truly amazing gift is that you have the power to make the change.

Producing cartoons and submitting them, I am constantly rejected. I'm not the only one. But we are of few who choose a life of rejection in the graphic industry.

Late last year, early this year I was suffering from a severe cramping pain that made my joints swell and my body temperature increase like an oven. I went to the doctors who gave no clear concept to what was happening. I was crying heavily with pain, folding over to try and ease the intencity of fire that ripped through my body. I looked for the sharpest knife in the kitchen as I was prepared to cut my left arm at the shoulder clear off. I had the towels ready. The pain was nothing I had ever experienced. No volume of pain killers taken from those at the hospital or emergency medical centre could give me relief. The pain grew worse and the diagnosis was so long in coming, it didn't help. I was terrified, I didn't want to know what was happening. I knew there was something wrong and I just wanted to die. I couldn't think of anything else but how I could end the pain myself. I was finally injected with cortersone and began to feel temporary relief. Days went by and the pain came back slowly. I looked inward to my training in tai chi for answers. It was meditation that gave me the answer I needed. My mental anguish was causing the imbalance. As fear was growing inside me, the disturbance it created had detrimental effect on my body. I had let my fears grow and overtake my skills. My ability and knowledge I had taken for granted.

It is still a journey I am taking but the role that fear plays in my life, I chose not to allow it - my fear - to stop me moving forward. No matter what happens, I can still choose to be at peace.

Learning to understand and face my fears has made me understand that life is full of fears. You just have to tame them. To many, my management and ability to tame them is what they see only as my courage. A word I've taken for granted. A word that I have given new meaning. A word many respect.

Courage