Chewing Pencils

This weeks Feature Artist proves that left handed folk do have something to contribute to the world after all…;). Come with me to sunny Canada and the studio of young Sheree…

NAME: Sheree Bradford-Lea
AGE: In my 40s
LOCATION: Canada
SITE URL: www.shereebradfordlea.com

How long have you been drawing cartoons?

Since 1998. I occasionally had ideas for cartoons before this, but didn’t think about doing anything with them beyond doodling–I was much more inclined to write about things.

What made you start to think more seriously about making some money out of it?

I have more time to pursue it. I was raising my children, and cartooning on the side, but my children are older now–certainly old enough to encourage me to draw more!

Have you done any formal training? If so, what and where?

Not really. Out of curiousity I took a night course on cartooning at the local high school in early 1998. It was the instructor there, an artist by trade, who mentioned I should send my cartoons to magazines.

Where was your first cartoon published?

Homebase: A Forum For Mothers, in 1998.

What materials do you use to create your work?

Basic stuff. Pencils for sketching; Micron pigmas and Micron type pens for inking; Faber Castell Art pens and the occasional pencil crayon for those times when I shade things; Pentel correction pen for whiting out mistakes; an artist’s drawing pad to sketch on because I like the rough texture. I sketch either at a table I made, or with the drawing pad propped up on my knees; inking I do at the table.

What hardware and software do you use?

Again, pretty basic. Occasionally I use the photocopier down the road if I’m reducing something that’s tricky–multiple panels too big for the scanner, that kind of thing. Generally though I just scan the cartoons using my Scanjet 2300. I use Corel photo album for resizing.

From where so you draw your inspiration?

Where DON’T I find inspiration? I don’t go looking for funny things, they just seem to come to me, generally when I’m going about my day to day life.

What are some of the resources you’ve found most helpful?

Randy Glasbergen’s book ‘How To Be A Successful Cartoonist’, partially because of his cheerful, encouraging outlook, but also because he collected a lot of interviews with established cartoonists, which are included in the book. Also, library books on cartooning, sketching, inking–they have good tips. And, Hogan’s Alley, a magazine from the United States which is chock full of cartooning history, and general cartooning information (they also have a website).

What is the best piece of advice you have EVER been given? The worst?

The best: That I should follow the path that makes me happy, even if it doesn’t pay that well at first. Cartooning, of course, makes me happy.
The worst: If you don’t work at cartooning night and day you’ll never make any real money. This, of course, might be true, but I’m hoping that in the long run balance will bring me more success than will single-minded obsession–money, although I’m not sneering at it, won’t mean anything to me if my family doesn’t continue to be an important part of my life.

Take us through the process you use to create one of your drawings:

I’ll see or hear something, which will internally collide with a random thought and strike me as funny (many times I do start to giggle to myself–I’m pretty child-like that way). I’ll jot down the idea on paper I carry around with me–I ’see’ the cartoon in my mind, but still think more as a writer rather than an artist, so I generally write the idea instead of sketching it. I throw the idea in a pile with other ideas. At a certain point I’ll sift through the pile, and pull out whatever ideas still strike me as funny. Then I sketch them and toss them in a file folder. When I can, I ink them, clean them up, toss them in the folder again, and figure out where to send them. Finally, I scan them into the computer and send them off.

How long does it generally take to create one piece?

It depends. If it ‘clicks’ I can probably get the entire piece finished, from sketch to inking, in about twenty minutes–usually that’s a single panel gag cartoon rather than a multi-panel, although not always. But if I’m not happy with it, the cartoon can, off and on, take days before it’s really finished (sometimes I re-do captions a few times, for instance).

What do you find the hardest to draw?

Boxes around my cartoons. I use a template now.

What do your friends and family think of you being a cartoonist?

They think it’s great–they love to laugh too!

What do you think is the best part about being a cartoonist?

Seeing the immediate, uplifting effect cartoons have on people, including myself.

What has been the standout post on Chewing Pencils for you? Why?

Tip # 11–that family is the most important of all. There are so many books, etc. out there that have made me feel a little guilty that, for example, I wasn’t telling my toddlers to get their own juice because I HAD to CREATE. It doesn’t help that I am pretty driven and ambitious in general, and had to deal with a certain amount of adjustment to a more domestic lifestyle–I used to do freelance research contracts in psychology, but when my children came along decided I would do the family thing instead, and also pursue my humour writing, which I figured would be less time-consuming and more family friendly than research. The thing is, I didn’t realize how much sleep-deprivation and small child demands might interfere with this particular goal. That’s one reason why I like cartooning–I find I can put my cartoons down and pick them up again without the time lapse being a problem–I don’t need large blocks of uninterrupted time in order to create them. All that to say, it’s been bad enough to think I couldn’t (and sometimes still can’t) put as many hours into furthering my cartoon career as I’d like, without established cartoonists insisting that without the hours I’ll never do well in the field. Matt, you’re the first one to say a person can have it all, talk about the importance of family inclusion and balance, and try to demonstrate these principles. So–thanks for the inspiration!

Anything else you’d like to say….

I enjoy the other Chewing Pencils tips, and the newsletters, and have learned a great deal from them. Again, thanks! And thanks for this forum!