Scram, little guy!

New assignments are fun. But exciting too. Where do you start? Which drawing goes best with the client, the situation, the message?

Ideas

Don’t think I lack ideas. Coming up with ideas is simple. I open wide the windows and doors of my brain and let the wind play havoc with my thoughts. Let those curtains flap! I chase my creativity from every nook and cranny where she lies sleeping. I look at my own cartoons. I look at other people’s cartoons. I google for images. But most of all: I scribble.

Drunk little guy

While I am thinking about the new assignment, I make little scetches, I draw funny figures and I droodle unconcernedly. But not before I sent my screaming little guy away with a bottle of rum (80%) and told him to mind his own business for a while. He may get drunk. And then he can sleep it off.  (Mind you: while this is perfect for small guys who sit on your shoulder and scream, it is extremely unhealthy for real people.)

So much to choose from

In this phase criticism isn’t welcome. Now all ideas are worth contemplating. What I wrestle with, is that I have so much to choose from. How do I make the best choice out of ten thousand potential drawings? It may sound strange, but that problem almost solves itself. I droodle and scetch until it feels right. Until there are three or four ideas left I can work on. Then I call: ‘Hey, little guy! Back to work! I need you!’

Grumpy

Luckily he always comes back. At first a bit more grumpier than usual. But after a while he is sitting on my shoulder again, screaming into my ear that I am doing something wrong. Do I really think this is funny? Or that anybody will understand this? What do I think I am doing? 

From that moment on everything is back to normal. Wonderful.