What I Learned Recently | Card Fails Part 2 | Cartoons & More
Newsletter #48
In This Issue:
What I Learned Recently
Card Fails, Part 2
Top Cartoons
What I Learned Recently
Last weekend I took Kate to a sports competition out of town. It was a major competition for her, in a big city that I'd never visited before.
We flew there, and I rented a car to drive us around.
I was picturing this:
Instead, it was this:
By the way, we WERE wearing seat belts, I just forgot to draw them here.
Anyway, I was totally unfamiliar with the city's layout, and it turns out there were many one-way streets, freeways that looped into other freeways, roads that turned into freeways, construction zones, and more.
Here's a map I drew of the area, based on my recollection.
Adding to the fun, most of the driving I was doing was at NIGHT and it was RAINING.
While I was in full freak-out mode, Kate was next to me, blissfully listening to her music and snapping selfies to send to her friends.
I had my phone navigation going, and that was somewhat helpful, but it didn't know about all the construction. So it would try to lead me down roads that were clearly blocked off.
I ended up coping with the stress by driving slow. REALLY SLOW. I don't think I was going dangerously slow, but I'm not sure. The other drivers, I noticed, were flagrantly disregarding the speed limit and shooting past me.
The whole thing was incredibly stressful, and it was the first time I'd had a crisis of confidence while driving. But I did come out of the experience with three key takeaways:
I totally empathize with slow drivers now, and I will never complain about them again. In fact, anytime I see a slow driver, I'll roll down my window and yell, "I feel you!" (Would that be weird?)
I'm thankful we have phone navigation. Some (many?) of you will remember the days when all we had was a Thomas Guide or similar paper map. You had to look up the directions and write them down. Invariably, your route started on page 886, square D4 and then continued on page 897, square B2, etc. I was SO thankful that my phone not only gave me directions, but also told me things like, "Get in the second lane from the left."
I learned that teens are of little help.
Have you ever had any stressful driving experiences? Any instances that gave you a new perspective about driving? I think the whole topic of driving has a lot of potential for cartoons. Send me any thoughts you have!
Card Fails, Part 2
In the last issue, we looked at a phase in my career where I was creating greeting card concepts that just kept getting rejected.
This week, we venture deeper into that territory.
Meet Larry.
Larry is a skinny chap, with an unhealthy complexion and a passion for 1970's clothing. I used him on a few different cards.
Here's the inside of this one:
Not my best work on that inside message. I should have come up with something better, but I spent too much time working on Larry and his outfit! I panicked at the end, and just wrote whatever came to me.
Also, I'm not sure he should have been smoking. But Larry smokes, so what can you do??
Christmas Larry was not picked up. But that's OK. A couple months later, the card company got to see him in a Valentine's Day setting.
Did you notice the buns I drew? I was pretty proud of those. I was also proud of how I drew him looking at himself in the mirror. It looks easy now, but I recall at the time thinking that was a very tricky thing to pull off.
Sadly, Larry was once again rejected by the card company (and, we have to imagine, by whatever women he was conversing with).
This was the inside of the card:
Slightly better than Christmas, but still not great. At least he doesn't have a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
In addition to Larry, I created a character named Chip Dangerfest. Chip was up for anything, including being shot via cannon through a huge cake.
The inside:
Don't worry, Chip ate his way out.
The card company liked this one enough to test it, but alas, it didn't pass the test-market phase. Maybe the public was intimidated by Chip and his big ambitions.
I also used Chip on a 21st Birthday card. This is a rough drawing I did of it (I couldn't find the color version).
Anyway, on this card we find Chip making another questionable decision about how to spend his time.
The inside:
To be clear, no one should ever attempt to drink that much beer. Perhaps that's one reason the card company said, "No thank you."
On an unrelated note, you have to wonder about that shirt that Chip always wears. Did he buy it with the word "CHIP!" already on it, or did he buy a plain shirt and write his name on it? (I think we know the answer to that.)
Thinking back, I wasn't really bothered by these cards getting rejected. I was having too much fun creating the characters! Unfortunately, the characters had no way of paying me any money.
But then something miraculous happened. The card company reached out with a specific request. "Could you create a card for a bachelorette party?" they asked.
You bet I could. And I knew just who to turn to.
Larry! Back again.
The inside:
This card made it to shelves! Larry was out in the world! Not on the best of terms (no one wants to be the discount stripper), but to his credit, he played the part well.
Good job, Larry. Now if we can only find something for Chip...
Next issue: I'm going to show you some characters I've drawn that all fall under the umbrella of "People With Seriously Crazy Problems." Stay tuned!
Top Cartoons
As I'm sure you know, I regularly post cartoons on my website, Instagram and Facebook, so follow along at one of those places!
The following three cartoons were the most popular since the last newsletter.
The first two are taken verbatim from my life. This was a conversation I had with Kate.
And this (from a few years ago) was based on Claire.
The final cartoon is part of an ongoing series I have about dogs. I love dogs so much.
When I posted this cartoon, I also asked people if they had any input about cats. I'd love to do a cat cartoon, but we don't have a cat. So feel free to reach out and tell me about cats! Or about things you love about dogs. Or really any pet at all.
Over on Patreon...
Patreon is a site where people can throw a monthly "tip" in the Hedger Humor jar. And then I send out rewards!
This month on Patreon I sent out a video about "How to Draw an Anxious Driver" (for anyone pledging $3 per month) and a printable Thank You card (for everyone pledging $5 per month).
Then I also try to create a monthly behind-the-scenes video for everyone who pledges $1 per month.
You can check it all out on my Patreon page! This income fuels these Hedger Humor cartoons. So thank you, thank you, thank you!
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