Words & Drawings

Who knew cartooning was such hard work? Peter Steiner and three cartoonist friends, all regular contributors to The New Yorker, made clear just how hard it is last Sunday in a lively, interesting and entertaining Sharon Town Hall presentation that preceded the opening of a delightful exhibition of their work at Sharon Library. Steiner, who created the iconic “dog in front of a computer” cartoon — you know the caption, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog” ­— arranged the panel and curated the show, which also includes work by Lee Lorenz, a former art editor of the magazine, who could not be in Sharon for the panel. Steiner’s colleagues — Liza Donnelly and her husband,º Michael Maslin, and Danny Shannahan — explained that they send ideas in sketch form to the magazine almost weekly. Only a few are ever accepted. When an idea is bought, the cartoonist draws the “real thing,” the finished image. Most use India ink or a regular fountain pen, even pencil; all but Maslin use a light box to trace the initial drawing for the final art. Maslin uses his initial drawing. Sometimes an idea is rejected only to be bought later on resubmission. (Shannahan’s New Yorker cover showing an elderly lady navigating the sidewalk with her walker and about to encounter four banana peels was rejected first, then bought six months later. It produced many objections from readers after the fact.) Donnelly frequently draws comments about politics or social issues, but subtly. She also is part of the initiative Cartooning for Peace at a time when perceived anti-Islam cartoons can provoke violence in the Middle East. Some cartoons communicate well between cultures — Steiner’s “Internet dog” is one — many others do not. Steiner showed Lorenz’s work and pointed out that he represented the previous generation of cartoonists who made drawing as important as words. Lorenz’s cartoons are easily recognizable for the detailed shading of his images. Donnelly said there is a new cartoon editor at the magazine, and she is bringing in many new cartoonists. (One man in the audience commented that this may explain why he doesn’t “get” many New Yorker cartoons these days. Panelists did not comment.) All four panelists agreed that words come first, then the drawing. Shannahan said he had drawers full of drawings without captions but no captions without drawings. All said they dislike the caption contest on the last page of each New Yorker issue. Steiner thinks it cheapens cartooning itself. Shannahan pointed out that the magazine often buys finished cartoons, removes the caption and runs them in the contest. The cartoonist’s name remains on the image but not his words. “Art of the New Yorker Cartoons” will remain at Sharon Library, on the Green, through Nov. 30. The library is open daily except holidays. Call 860-364-5041 or go to www.hotchkisslibrary.org.