Chewing Pencils

I quoted on a job for a new client this morning.
This person had seen my work in a journal from ages ago.
In that time, I’ve changed my home address, my phone number and my email address.
However, I’ve made a point of ’signing’ my cartoons with my web site logo - “mattglover.com“
Thus, to contact me […]

I’ve been watching the Tour de France on telly the last few nights. Being a bit of a hack cyclist myself, I’m in awe of the strength and endurance of these guys who push their bodies and bikes through some beautiful, yet punishing, terrain in France.
To get good enough to win the race, you have […]

My family is still quite young.
My boys are four and two respectively, so the time we spend together is both precious and formative.
I don’t want them to grow up resenting my work because it ‘always took Daddy away’ nor do I want them to resent me for never giving them my best.
So, when it […]

This afternoon I was approached by a client to do some drawing that will earn me a four figure fee. This wil be the first time I’ve done any work for this company, but they were quite happy to pay whatever I asked.
While I’ve not worked for the company before, the employee that contacted me […]

Well, sometimes it is!
One of the dealines I’m trying to meet at the moment requires me to draw a series of comic strips that have the same characters in more or less the same positions over and over again. I’ve been given the text to use, so basically just have to draw people saying the […]

The longer you are a cartoonist and the more widely your work is known, you will invariably get asked by a pushy parent whether you can offer work experience to their child. The conversation will go something like this:
Parent: My son really likes to draw. He has talent too.
You: So what do you want me […]

Whether we like it or not, most clients see what we do as light weight and wince at having to pay anything for it. Then, when they finally do decide to spend some money, they consider themselves experts, yet can never tell you what they really want.
Can you tell I’m in a mood?!
One of the […]

I know this is not possible for everybody, especially if freelance cartooning is your sole source of income. But sometimes it is really important to take a break from your drawing.
When we become too busy and our schedules are overloaded, we simply become tired. Not the sort of tired that can be fixed with a […]

Our January Drawing Project judge, Matt Golding, has done a great little gag in the weekend edition of the Age Newspaper.
As a bit of background, the states of Victoria and Tasmania in Australia are battling huge bushfires at the moment - possibly the largest seen in the last one hundred years. A common sight in […]

We’ve all probably got a pet cartoon project or character that we spend more time on than anything else. We spend most of our creative energy on developing the particular piece and, all modesty aside, we think it’s the best thing on paper for years.
Then, when you get multiple rejection letters saying your work is […]