A Reminder...

My current Artist's Way journey is already bearing fruit...

When I was about 9 or so (circa 1977), I took my first art classes. I loved, loved, loved Snoopy and would recreate every Shultz cartoon I could lay my hands on, so my parents signed me up for classes with a cartoonist named Ralph Kanna.

Kanna had written the strip “Stern Wheeler,” which was published in 1963 in the Hartford Courant and gave Paul Aparo his start in comics. Aparo would later go on to DC Comics/Batman fame. Kanna stayed local in CT and did a weekly Saturday Morning TV show called "Mud Poodle" where he would draw adventures while we all watched. He also gave classes downtown. I loved those classes.

The recent news story of a man being fired reminded me of how much I loved these classes and got me digging in my cartoon books. Wouldn't you know I found my original profile cartoon ideas from those classes! It was very safe for me to do my art at that time. No one gave it a second thought. I was allowed to love it and draw and not one negative word was said. No one cared about how I would make a living yet or even if I was good. It only mattered that I was happy and having fun.

I think I will be cartooning for my artists date this week...

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." Scott Adams, Dilbert cartoonist

Associated Press
DES MOINES, Iowa - A judge has sided with a casino worker who was fired for posting on an office bulletin board a "Dilbert" comic strip that made fun of his managers.
David Steward was fired from the Catfish Bend Casino because management found the cartoon "very offensive," human-resources director Steve Morley testified at a recent unemployment-benefits hearing. The casino had challenged his claim for unemployment benefits.
"Basically, he was accusing the decision-makers of being drunken lemurs," Morley testified. "We consider that misconduct when you insult your employer."
According to state records, Steward posted the comic in late October, shortly after officials announced that the casino in Burlington would be closed.
Dilbert appears in the Daily News. In the strip in question, Dilbert and another character are shown having the following exchange:
"Why does it seem as if most of the decisions in my workplace are made by drunken lemurs?"
"Decisions are made by people who have time, not people who have talent."
"Why are talented people so busy?"
"They're fixing the problems made by people who have time."
Steward testified that he posted the comic partly because of the impending layoffs.
"I thought maybe it would cheer some people up," he said. "I found it humorous."
Administrative Law Judge Lynette Donner sided with Steward, ruling it was "a good-faith error in judgment," not intentional misbehavior.
"Dilbert" creator Scott Adams said it might have been the first confirmed instance of a worker being fired for posting a "Dilbert" strip in a workplace. *

SCOTT ADAMS HAS RESPONDED IN A NEW STRIP
at www.dilbert.com/