Mr.
Webster defines doggerel as "loosely styled and irregular in measure
for burlesque or comic effect; also: marked by triviality or
inferiority." Hey. Works for me. So I’ve decided to mark my part of our
new blog with this image of Al, my fox terrier cartoon mascot. Welcome
to Doggerel on behalf of both Al and me.
One
of the exciting things about being able to blog, for me, is having the
chance to periodically share some of the creative input I receive from
readers. Awhile back, this little note – complete with schnauzer,
speaking of dogs – came in the mail. Wish I could remember which
cartoon I drew that God might nail me for, but alas, memory fails. He’s
got it all on record though, I’m sure. Remember to double-click on the
image to see it larger.
More to my liking, for obvious reasons, is this caricature of yours
truly, sent to me by a student at a school where I spoke a couple of
years back. I’m planning on taking this one with me to the Pearly Gates
as "exhibit A" when I’m called to reckoning for that other cartoon I
drew that so offended the schnauzer lover.
I do a lot of speaking to school groups and am always impressed by
their enthusiasm for leaping into cartooning with both feet. Sometimes
with their hands as well. Tyler Lyon, here, was even moved to take a
whack at me.
And while I’m at it, I might as well get some use out of these cartoon
ideas that I rejected for one reason or another. On some days when I’m
doing the really hard part of my job – you know, the thinking part -
trying to coax a cartoon idea out of a brain that’s a little too full
of bluegrass music trivia and banjo notes, I draw "roughs" of cartoons
to try them out. The rejects usually get tossed, but thanks to this
blog, I can now inflict even the inferior toons (see definition of
"doggerel" above) on dear readers. Here’s one that, given the
Legislature’s budget dilemma, probably won’t ever be usable again.
Gambling just might have more than a June snowball’s chance in Topeka
these days.
