Did you ever wonder if the person in the puddle is real, and you're just a reflection of him? Bill Watterson More Quotes by Bill Watterson More Quotes From Bill Watterson Garry Trudeau is the only cartoonist with the clout to get his strip published large enough to accomodate extended dialogue. It's ashame. Bill Watterson clout dialogue enough Saturday morning cartoons do that now, where they develop the toy and then draw the cartoon around it, and the result is the cartoon is a commercial for the toy and the toy is a commercial for the cartoon. The same thing's happening now in comic strips; it's just another way to get the competitive edge. You saturate all the different markets and allow each other to advertise the other, and it's the best of all possible worlds. You can see the financial incentive to work that way. I just think it's to the detriment of integrity in comic strip art. Bill Watterson morning integrity art United Features had given me a development contract, which meant I was to work exclusively with them and rather than completing everything on my own and turning it in to them and having it rejected or accepted, I was working much more directly with the syndicate, turning in smaller batches much more frequently, and getting comments on them. The idea was that they would help me develop the strip and then, assuming that they liked it, it would flow into a normal contract for syndication. Bill Watterson development flow ideas If you've got more ambiguous characters or stock stereotypes, the plastic comes through and they don't work as well. Bill Watterson plastic stereotype character I'd always enjoyed the comics more, and felt that as long as I was unemployed it would be a good chance to pursue that and see what response I could get from asyndicate, as I didn't have anything to lose at that point. So I drew up a comic strip - this was in 1980 - and sent it off and got rejected. I continued that for five years with different comic strip examples 'til finally Calvin and Hobbes came together. But it's been a long road. Bill Watterson together long years I guess I just don't have the killer instinct that I think makes a great political cartoonist. Bill Watterson killers political thinking I wasn't having any luck getting accepted anyway and it forced me to re-examine what it was that I really wanted to do. In my experience in political cartooning, I was never one of those people who read the headlines and foams at the mouth with rabid opinion that I've just got to get down on paper. Bill Watterson political luck people Cincinnati at that time was also beginning to realize it had major cartooning talent in Jim Borgman, at the city's other paper, and I didn't benefit from the comparison.His footsteps seemed like good ones to follow, so I cultivated an interest in politics, and Borgman helped me a lot in learning how to construct an editorial cartoon. Neither of us dreamed I'd end up in the same town on the opposite paper. Bill Watterson cartoon cities opposites I think the experience forced me to consider how interested I was in political cartooning. After I was fired, I applied to other papers but political cartooning, like all cartooning, is a very tough field to break into. Newspapers are very reluctant to hire their own cartoonists when they can get Oliphant or MacNelly through syndication for a twentieth of the price. Bill Watterson political paper thinking I'm willing to take the blame if the strip goes down the drain, and I want the credit if it succeeds. So long as it has my name on it, I want it to be mine. Bill Watterson credit names long My problem is that I don't paint ambitiously. It's all catch and release - just tiny fish that aren't really worth the trouble to clean and cook. Bill Watterson tiny problem trouble What I try to do in writing any character is to put myself in his position. Bill Watterson writing trying character I'm pulling out different aspects of my personality in writing each character and, if I'm doing my job well, I'm being true to the situation and true to the character. Bill Watterson writing jobs character You can draw a penguin on a toilet reading The New York Times and it's adorable, but try doing it with an adult male character, and it's disgusting. Bill Watterson reading new-york character In a comic strip, you can suggest motion and time, but it's very crude compared to what an animator can do. I have a real awe for good animation. Bill Watterson animation comic real Obviously the great thing about this job is the complete freedom of the schedule. So long as I meet the deadline, they don't care when I work or how I work. Bill Watterson schedules jobs long I try to make everyone's day just a little more surreal. Bill Watterson My life needs a rewinderase button. - Calvin Bill Watterson Some people are pragmatists, taking things as they come and making the best of the choices available. Some people are idealists, standing for principle and refusing to compromise. And some people just act on any whim that enters their heads. I pragmatically turn my whims into principles - Calvin Bill Watterson I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night. - Calvin Bill Watterson
