The Far Side
When I was a kid, probably 8 or 9, I stumbled across this picture book in the corner of my public library. It was crammed into a low-lying shelf beneath what I think was a model ship in a glass bottle. The book was Unnatural Selection, a collection of The Far Side Gallery by Gary Larson. I remember only the faces — eyes hidden beneath long, flat unibrows and perfectly-rounded glasses. These drawings, for whatever reason, sparked a desire in me to draw comic strips of my own.
I drew comic strips — all through elementary, middle school, high school, and college — usually in stubby Ticonderoga #2 pencils and acrid Sharpies on tissue-thin printing paper. But the distractions were many. There were video games to play, track meets to run, and ever-growing mountains of homework to be smothered under. Only after college, when my life became significantly quieter, did I decide to devote myself to drawing better cartoons.
I worked night shifts as a janitor so that I could spend my afternoons drawing. I rented a small but clean room from a high school friend and crammed a portable drafting table into my empty closet. I lived like this for two years. The comic strip above is a small portion of that greater effort.