#414: AI: Maintaining Humanity in the Artistic Process, Talking Shop in The Illustration Department, First Snow in NYC & More!
+ Morris whinges about the cold.
…from a freezing cold bagel shop in Chelsea, welcome to issue #414 of New York Cartoons!
Welp, it’s finally winter. People are swearing at Christmas tourists from beneath scarves and puffy jackets. It really is the most magical time of year in New York.
Anthony & Lauren invited me to tag along to see the incredible Nicole Henry perform some Christmas songs last night at 54 Below. It snowed as we walked home from the show— the whole thing felt like a Hallmark movie.
Talking shop in the Illustration Department
You can hear me on one of my favourite podcasts doing my favourite thing — talking shop with fellow artists.
This podcast saved my sanity during the pandemic. There’s something about listening to other people working alone in a studio in the same or similar field as you that helps you feel less ‘alone’ in the world. Knowing how other people are thinking and talking about the same issues you are having is such a great resource.
⚡ Subscribe to Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, iHeartRadio
Whose podcast is it? (From the host:) My name is
. I’m the Founder of IllustrationDept.com—a global leader in online education for illustrators. I’m also the host of The Illustration Department Podcast—a “Top Podcast” in the Visual Arts and Arts categories worldwide. 25,000+ subscribers listen in every week.In each interview, I ask my guests about their beginnings, successes, and—most importantly—the bumps and bruises they’ve experienced along the way.
Previous guests include Yuko Shimizu, Mohamed Danawi (founder of IlloZoo), Ben Zhu (founder of Gallery Nucleus), Leonard Marcus, Javaka Steptoe, Olimpia Zagnoli, Betsy Lewin, Kevin Eastman (co-founder of TMNT), Seymour Chwast, Pamela Zagarenski, Dave McKean, Ashley Bryan, Hilary Knight, Anita Kunz, RO Blechman, Martin Salisbury, Jim McMullan, Debbie Bibo (founder of Debbie Bibo Agency), David Wiesner, Kazu Kibuisihi, Greg Manchess, Barbara Nessim, Uri Shulevtiz, David Macaulay, Shaun Tan, Traci Todd, and many more.
This month, I was invited to FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York to give a guest lecture to young artists on maintaining humanity in their creative process.
In a world with abundant digital tools —now including AI art generators of varying quality and provenance— it’s important for young artists to understand the importance of maintaining their unique voice, style and humanity. The following is a loose transcript of my presentation cleaned up for Substack. I hope you take some value from it.
Take a listen to the latest episode, where we talk about Post-election Cartoon Reactions, Simone Biles and getting judgy, Getting backlash for cartoons online, Nine-year olds dealing with another pall, Cartoons that endanger democracy itself, Baby-Dividers!, Broken Ice Makers, The Golden State Warriors at The Louvre, Polyamory at the tennis and more!
This week’s Sketchbook is a bit of a mixed bag. Enjoy.
He’s refusing to move to go for a walk. Too cold.
Brilliant. I love that podcast. I’ve put it in the queue. Something to look forward to when I’m in my comic next week.