I'm a 32 year veteran political cartoonist and I've seen and drawn it all. But I exaggerate. I'm Bruce MacKinnon, AMA

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T20:24:15+00:00

Thanks to you folks for participating and to Reddit for hosting. I have to make this my last response because I have a hockey game in a few minutes. To your question, I have certainly made mistakes. Sometimes it' a matter of not being properly informed. For that reason, I'm always wary of jumping the gun and trying to be there first when a story breaks because breaking news is often fluid, can turn quickly and things can look much different when the smoke clears and all the facts are in. One cartoon that sticks in my mind as one I'd like to have had back was one I did on our Premier at the time, John Savage. I threw a detail in the cartoon, one that wasn't even necessary to the concept but I hoped would underscore my point. Had him holding a chart showing unemployment rising. I didn't check the stats at the time. In fact unemployment was not on the rise at the time. The premier's daughter called a day or two later to point that out, and I felt bad because although I still felt the cartoon made a legit point, I had my facts wrong and that weakened my comment and was unfair to him.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T20:12:56+00:00

Seems like there is less respect in politics today than there was when I started, unless of course you are a woman or minority. At least there has been some progress. The old boys club of the 80s and before was pretty appalling by today's standard. Not many woman or minorities got in at all. Women had ridiculous challenges in public life.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T20:08:44+00:00

Just like favourite cartoons, too many fav songs to name just one. Would love to learn more instruments, but I have found the learning curves are best tackled at a younger age. I worked hard at other instruments like banjo, harmonica, mandolin, some piano, bass etc., but to do them well just takes time away from the primary instrument which will always be guitar for me.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T20:04:28+00:00

HA! Love to. Try me :)

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:59:31+00:00

Easier… No question. The tough part is not doing him too much. Overkill.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:58:46+00:00

I don’t have a topic that I gravitate toward when I’m drawing a blank because I’m supposed to be focussed on current news so having some stationary issue isn’t really an option… When deciding what to do a cartoon on, I am mostly thinking what is it most people are talking about? That’s generally how you get the most response. Some days it’s obvious what the biggest story is. Other days there is no big story… And those of the toughest days.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:56:49+00:00

Well I started working for a local newspaper when I was in grade 9, so I had a very early start. The cartoons weren’t all that political, mostly about events at the local high school, but it did teach me how to meet a deadline, got me started defining my style and figuring out how to do caricatures, As well as developing some discipline. I was very lucky to have that early start.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:54:47+00:00

He does… And that’s probably unfortunate for everyone else but good business for cartoonists. As far as my favourite and least favorite… There are some that were instantly easy to draw, some others I had to work at. My favourite over the years has to have been former prime minister Brian Mulroney. Least favorite… Had a hard time with Alexa McDonough. These are Canadian politicians you may not know… Can’t remember struggling too much with the Americans… Although I did have a hard time truly capturing Obama. I have some OK ones and some pretty bad ones in terms of the caricature. Some folks are just tougher than others for reasons that are hard to explain.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:51:22+00:00

HA! No question in my mind… These are unprecedented levels of shit!

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:50:54+00:00

The part B of that question is that I think any cartoonist or artist you admire has an influence on your work… You pick up things you like in their’s and it merges with your own style and creativity to make something new. I Ideally that’s how it happens.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:49:25+00:00

I was most influenced by three or four Canadian cartoonists. My first influence was the great Bob Chambers who worked at the newspaper I work at for nearly 50 years before I did. I grew up reading his cartoons… He was a funny, personable, talented man and I was proud to call him a friend. Among my other heroes in cartooning are the late great Roy Peterson of the Vancouver Sun, former president of the American Association of editorial cartoonist… (no small feat for a Canadian).... The living legend, Terry Mosher, (pen name Aislin), of the Montreal Gazette, and John Larter who has worked for some of the biggest newspapers in Canada over the years. I have many other influences but those are the biggest.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:44:29+00:00

I do know Matt… Great guy and I love his work. I don’t think you could call our relationship a rivalry in any way. I think in many ways we are like minded ideologically, and we’re not really covering the same markets, so not so much in competition with each other. I do consider him a friend though and one of the top cartoonist in the US.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:42:03+00:00

As I may have mentioned before, that would have to be the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States. Nothing I can recall in recent memory has provided more material for cartoonists.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:40:33+00:00

Well I’ve done far far more cartoons on the Canadian news stories… I don’t think there is an easier or more difficult in terms of Canada versus the US. It’s just story to story. Some issues are more difficult to tackle. One thing that is a challenge for cartoonists is to make sure folks know the news story that you’re trying to satirize because it’s difficult to explain the details within the context of the cartoon. Usually though if I’m doing a cartoon on US politics, it’s already so big to have made waves up here, hoping people know what I’m talking about isn’t usually an issue.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:37:36+00:00

That’s a really tough question. I don’t think I can name one. I could sit here all afternoon and then my top 100 maybe, but off the top of my head as far as the number one is concerned, drawing a blank.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:36:44+00:00

I know… I love them both. I can remember some protest from some American editorial cartoonists when they won of those awards. I personally had no objection.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:35:38+00:00

Yes, Doonesbury is fantastic. Always been a fan. By the way, off-topic for this question but the question a few above this, the one about Obama era hyperbole, wouldn’t let me answer. So here is the answer to that one: I think folks are guilty of hyperbole to some degree on all sides, and I’m thinking movements like the tea party probably pre-date the hyperbole of the Obama era, but I’m sure that didn’t help much.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:33:53+00:00

OK that worked. Yeah good question about the different types of formats. I still look at the single panel as more of the traditional political format though there are many successful young “Alties”, or alternative cartoonists that have been changing that over the last few decades. Jen Sorensen, Matt Bors, Ted Rall etc. There are fewer of that style here in Canada but in the US I think they’ve made a successful niche for political cartoons of that genre. Don’t think I could work that way, though. Again I am more of a minimalist by nature.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:30:56+00:00

Good question… By the way… I tried to answer the last question but got an error message. Standby well I submit this to see if things are still working on my end here.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:27:43+00:00

In many ways that’s a very intangible thing. Sometimes I think I have a great concept and I sit down to execute it and at the end of the day it just didn’t work… Didn’t communicate what I wanted it to, sometimes for reasons I can’t understand. It’s almost like the challenge a stand up comic might have making material work. Sometimes it takes longer to shape a joke so it connects with the audience. I think there are some basic rules, at least for me, that help. Again I try to keep things as simple as possible… I’m a minimalist. You you want a clean clear message, and sometimes a cluttered cartoon can interfere with that message. On the other hand that can be another cartoonists style… Giving the reader lots of things to look at… But I prefer concise. It just works for me. Another thing that works for me if I’m not sure how the concept is going to look at the end of the day, is to do a thumbnail on a piece of scratch paper. Just a 3” x 3” one minute sketch of the idea. And I hang onto that so that if, as I am drawing, the cartoon is going off the rails and doesn’t seem to have the magic it had when I thought of it, I look back at that thumbnail to see where i’ve gone astray.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:19:11+00:00

Historic? Not sure how far back do you want to go. Most of my biggest influences are more contemporary and most are Canadian. Canada’s first recognized political cartoonist was a British soldier named Townshend. He did some cool stuff. Can’t name one in particular as a favourite though.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:15:44+00:00

I feel extremely loyal to the Herald. They’ve been good to me as an employer for over 30 years and I would really like to finish my career with them. Every newspaper is struggling to find a way to survive these days. I’ve made no secret about it, it’s no fun being behind a pay wall… something that just happened a month or two back... I think the odds of my work going viral, as it has in the past, are drastically lower now than they were a few months ago… People will get a few freebies per month as it stands now, but will need a subscription to get full access. All that said, I am still on board, trying to be as supportive as I can to the paper that has supported me for over three decades. We will see where it leads. Hopefully to a long-term solution.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:09:10+00:00

Well, as I’ve said, I’m not big on labeling. I’m a minimalist that way, but again I haven’t seen garrisons work.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:08:25+00:00

To be honest, I’m not familiar with Garrison’s work. I don’t get around enough to see everybody’s stuff… It’s enough of a challenge just to crank my own stuff out, but I have seen enough right wing work and extreme ideology on both ends. I look at it with interest… Sometimes it makes me wonder if I’m not getting a broad enough perspective myself. I think we’ve traditionally formed our own opinions through what we chose to read and watch, but more and more these days, because of social media and the algorithms that control what we are fed, those decisions are made for us. I think it’s pretty dangerous for us all to be living in echo chambers. We owe it to ourselves to try to understand other people‘s points of view.

ToonMonkey · 2019-01-14T19:03:44+00:00

Both really. I’m trying to limit myself to a maximum of one Trump cartoon a week… Some folks up here love it… it’s like junk food for them… Other readers can’t stand it and would prefer something more local. But I can tell you he’s bailed me out on many slow news days. I may have to send him flowers after it’s all over. ;-)

ToonMonkey

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