Continuing Education

I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.
~Eartha Kitt

More than a few times, I've mentioned on this blog that I have an insatiable appetite for information, most evident when it comes to improving my art skills. Frankly, I'll never be as good as I want to be because there is always room for any artist to improve.

Character Design Course
Regular readers will know that I got a lot out of Jason Seiler's Caricature Course last year. He's hinted that he'll have another course in the future and when he does, I intend to be in the first class offered. But until I can further improve my caricature work, I thought I'd work on my basic cartooning skills.

Beginning Monday, I'll be taking Stephen Silver's course from Schoolism. This course focuses on the art of drawing, character design and the business of art. I'm a regular visitor to Stephen's blog and met him last year at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo.

Stephen has a very positive attitude and judging by his incredible success, it serves him well. While the course will be a lot of work, I'm really looking forward to learning from him.

Success in Comics Seminar
While perusing The Daily Cartoonist this week, I came across mention of a seminar in September in Las Vegas on self-syndication of comics.

According to one of the organizers, Bill Kellogg of Tundra Comics...

"The line-up of speakers we have is meant to cover how to make money in all areas of cartooning, from syndicates, self syndication, online syndication,web sites, magazines, books, calendars, newsletters, licensing, etc. I chose these speakers because they are all successful in their areas and they are all willing to talk about it which means we should all be able to benefit from their experience and what they have to say."

Being a good artist these days is not enough. Having a strong online presence and a firm grasp on the marketing, communication, and growth of one's product is essential to being successful in any business. Cartooning is no different, and I'm really looking forward to learning some new promotion methods.

If you'd like to find out more about this seminar, check out these entries from Alan Gardner's blog, The Daily Cartoonist, and visit the registration and information pages at Tundra Comics.

Self Syndication Seminar Set For September
Self Syndication Seminar Adds Daryl Cagle

Editorial cartooning is not a very stable profession right now, and has been in steady decline for years. I actually got into it on the downward slide, so I have no recollection of 'The Glory Days.' The recent economic nightmare has sped up the decline and I know that many editorial cartoonists are worried about the future of the profession, not to mention their own personal incomes. Newspapers are regularly laying off staff, and editorial cartoonists aren't any safer than anyone else. Anyone expecting to have many more years in the profession may end up being very disappointed.

But that's the nature of any profession these days. Things change pretty fast, and like it or not, we have to change as well, and that's where education comes in.

Things do look a little bleak right now for a lot of people. But whatever the future holds, it has been my experience that opportunity is always knocking. You just have to be listening for it. And of course, be prepared when you open the door.