Capturing Today’s Essence With Humor: 65 One-Panel Comics By Sarah Morrissette

Morrissette told us more about recurring themes and motifs in her work: “I love drawing old-fashioned handbags. Whenever a woman is holding a purse, I draw one of those. No idea why I like to draw them. Other than that, I like to keep my drawings simple since I’m terrible at drawing realistic-looking backgrounds, rooms, cityscapes and things like that.”

We asked Sarah to tell us how she comes up with ideas for her new cartoons. She answered: “I stay hyper aware most of the time. Ideas will come from conversations, things I see, or even things I read. For instance, I’ll challenge myself, ‘In this chapter there will be a word or a germ of an idea.’ Strangely, this trance-induced idea generator often works. Above all, get on your bike or go for a walk. Do not listen to music or a podcast. Just let your mind wander. I usually get a few fairly good ideas on my way to work every day, early in the morning. For some reason this doesn’t work on my bike ride home. I guess by then I’ve used up all of my brain power.”

The artist continued: “Like many cartoonists, I have a really long list on my phone of half-baked ideas. Good ideas are rarely on that list. They never have a chance to land there since I have to draw them right away. Always write down your ideas. If you don’t, you will forget them. I can guarantee that. The idea is the main thing and the drawing just happens after that. I can picture the scene, and then put it on paper or on my iPad.”

We were wondering if Morrissette could share with us some of her influences in the world of comics and humor. The cartoonist said: “When I was living on the commune I was drawn to all things funny and weird. On the Main House bookshelf there were a bunch of underground p***ographic/psychedelic comics by R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton, and Bill Griffith. They freaked me out, but I wanted to draw like them. I loved that feeling of abandon. Anything goes. No matter how crazy or disturbing. My sister and I spent hours drawing everyone around us in that style. Hairy people, eyeballs popping, drool, big toes...

When I got older, I became a fan of various New Yorker cartoonists and began thinking, ‘Hmm. Maybe I can do this as well.’ I love William Steig and his children’s books. My children have them all. In 2019, I started submitting to The New Yorker and selling rejects to places that are still around to buy cartoons.”

The artist continued: “Another thing I gravitated toward were good record covers. When I was a kid, I had Playhouse Records by Jim Copp and Ed Brown. They were a duo from California who did brilliantly silly musical storytelling, with all the sound effects. The record covers were so fun to look at. Ed Brown, a graphic designer, drew the covers. They were charming in a naive way. 'Bad' art can often be good. There’s a book out there called Thrift Store Art and you wouldn’t believe the ugly gems people throw away.

Of course there also were the Beatles’ album covers such as Yellow Submarine. What kid wouldn’t want to draw like that?”

Lastly, Sarah shared with us what in her opinion makes a good comic, and discussed the most common mistakes comic artists make: “Don’t please anyone but yourself. A good cartoon is one that makes myself laugh. Maybe not always laugh out loud, but there’s something there that feels like it’s my idea and no one else’s. There’s no need to go googling to find out if someone else has already done the idea. Drawing and idea generating is something you’ll do every single day. Your friends and partners will be annoyed by your lack of interest in them. You’ll dream ideas. Basically it’s a 24/7 badly paid job that’s a lot of fun.”