In other news, one of my editorial cartoons, “Stimulating a War Economy,” took top honors at this year’s Homer Davenport International Cartoon Contest. The event is part of the annual Homer Davenport Days festival in Silverton, Ore. Another of my toons, “The Numbers Game” (color version), took third. It was a small competition — 13 artists competed — but I’m still pretty tickled.

I’ve reprinted the cartoons below, or you can check them out at the Homer Davenport Days Web site.

Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “Stimulating a War Economy” [Archive No. 0817]

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Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “The Numbers Game” (color version) [Archive No. 0813b]

A quick note to let you know my editorial cartoons won’t be returning from hiatus until next week. During the first week of my vacation, I slipped and landed on a barnacle-encrusted rock, resulting in several cuts on my drawing hand (click here for picture) and a trip to the ER. It’s all healing remarkably well, but I’m still finding it tough to do brushwork. So I’m going to have to pass on the Democratic National Convention, but should be back in the saddle for next week’s GOP brouhaha.

A quick roundup of OtWP news:

• One of my editorial cartoons has been selected by toonpool.com for its ongoing “Underground Exhibition” in Europe. On Aug. 3, “Checking the Gauge” [Archive No. 0617] will be broadcast 40 times a day on 4,000 video screens in Berlin’s subways, and should be seen by approximately 1.5 million passengers.

• Three of my toons can be found in new books chronicling the recent primaries. “Marathon Coverage” [Archive No. 0801] is included in “The Race for the 2008 Democratic Nomination,” while “Mitt on Change” [Archive No. 0802] and “Fresh Face of the GOP” [Archive No. 0804] made the cut for “The Race for the 2008 Republican Nomination.” I won’t be selling copies in the OtWP Store, but, if you’re interested, you can use the links below and I’ll get a kickback from Amazon.

Buy “The Race for the 2008 Democratic Nomination” from Amazon

Buy “The Race for the 2008 Republican Nomination” from Amazon 

• Finally, the time has come for a summer break. I plan to take the next three weeks off for family travel, backburner cartoon projects and just to generally recharge my battery. Expect my next toon Aug. 27, just in time to comment on the Democratic convention.  

Technical problems continue to plague the Off the Wahl Perspective Blog. We’re still working on it and hope to have everything working very soon.

In happier news, my “Surge” cartoons from last year were recently honored by the Society of Professional Journalists’ Excellence in Journalism Awards for Region 10 (an area including Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington), finishing third behind work from Northwest cartooning legends David Horsey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Jack Ohman of The Oregonian. The judge found my series “startling and stark, sends strong message quickly and with focus.”

Check them out below.

Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “The Surge Marches On …” (color version) [Archive No. 0728b]

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Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “Leaving Troops in Harm’s Way” (color version) [Archive No. 0717b]
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Links: Buy a hand-signed, 11×14 print of this cartoon | On the main site: “This Surge” (color version) [Archive No. 0709b]

As some of you may have noticed, the Off the Wahl Perspective Blog has been out of commission for a couple of weeks now. Serious database problems continue to plague it, and professionals have been called in. Hopefully, by the time you’re able to read this, all will be well.

I had every intention of cartooning this week — especially given last night’s political drama. But it’s finals week for my first quarter of grad school and compromises had to be made. New toon in seven, I promise.

Following is the second of two recent interviews I’ve done with print publications. This one was conducted via e-mail by Brian Hayes for the Winter 2008 edition of Blend, a national magazine about student journalism. The full interview follows below; a PDF download of the magazine is available from the National Scholastic Press Association. (Special thanks to Brian, Blend and Ball State University for permission to reprint this article.)

I posted the feature story from the Douglas County Empire Press earlier today.

In the business:
Professional cartoonist got start
on high school publication

By Brian Hayes

Andrew Wahl, 37, is a self-syndicated editorial cartoonist and graduate student. His company, Off the Wahl Productions (www.offthewahl.com), features much of his work.

Where did you go to High School?

Lake Stevens, Wash.

Did you work on HS publications? Which one? What positions?

I was the features editor and editorial cartoonist for the student newspaper, The Valhalla.

Where did you go to college?

AA (emphasis in journalism and political science) from Everett Community College; BA (dual emphasis in comparative American and international studies) from the University of Washington-Bothell; current graduate student via distance education (master’s in liberal studies with an emphasis on history) though Fort Hays State University.

Did you work on college publications? Which one? What positions?

I was the editor-in-chief and editorial cartoonist for the Everett Community College student newspaper, The Clipper. UW-B didn’t have a student paper at the time, so I self-published my own, The Shooting Star.

Some people know at an early age what they want to do in life. When did you first realize you had a knack for cartooning?

It was actually journalism that came first for me. I self-published my first newspaper, The Shooting Star, when I was just 5 years old. I used an old ’40s typewriter my dad let me haul home from the dump and a stack of carbon paper. I peddled the first issue up and down my block. (The Shooting Star would return several times during the years, most recently in 1995 between my junior and senior years in college.)

About the same time as I got the journalism itch, I also fell in love with comic books. That’s where the cartooning itch came from. Political cartooning came later, during my senior year in high school, as I became more politically aware. It was a nice marriage of my two passions (though I’ve done comic-book work, too, and plan to tackle another comics project this summer).

To be an editorial cartoonist, you must have some natural artistic talent. But, what other things have you done that have helped develop your cartooning skills?

I care a lot about the craft, and I think my cartooning has gotten better over the years, but artistic skill is really a secondary consideration. For me, it’s always been about the content. The key to being a good editorial cartoonist is to become as knowledgeable as possible, and to develop the ability to apply that knowledge critically. I’m a political wonk and history junkie, both of which feed the cartooning beast. My recent return to grad school to study history is part of an ongoing effort to improve the content of my cartoons.

How did you get your first big break?

I’ve made almost all of my breaks for myself. This is a trait I picked up from my dad. He’s a commercial artist, and he always told me that while there are plenty of other artists out there who are better, he was never going to let anyone outwork him. Dad made a career out of hustle and working hard. It’s a great philosophy that I’ve tried to make my own.

I marched into the office of the local daily paper when I was 9, looking for a job (I didn’t get one, but they did do a feature on my publishing of The Shooting Star). My community college journalism program didn’t have internships available, so I put together a portfolio of editorial cartoons and worked with the college and the local daily to set one up. And I again self-published The Shooting Star while finishing college to make sure I’d have good clips when I got out. And those clips did prove pivotal in getting my first full-time job, as the editors where impressed with my entrepreneurial attitude.

There are all kinds of things reported in the news these days that could be the subject of a good editorial cartoon. How do you sift through all the stories and decide what is best to draw? Where do you get your inspiration?

Every time I sit down to come up with a new editorial cartoon, I start with the same basic question: “What’s the most important (or interesting) issue in the news today?” In most years, this question prompted many answers — and cartoons on a wide range of topics. But, recently, two answers just kept popping up: 1. George W. Bush, who I firmly believe to be the worst president in U.S. history, and 2. the war in Iraq. By mid-2007, I feared I was becoming a two-note commentator (one really, as those two topics are so inextricably linked at this point). Thankfully, now that primary season is here, other topics have again wedged their way into the mix.

As for inspiration, I find it in my great love for our nation. The American experiment is a unique one, an attempt to form a national identity not out of ethic similarity but from a shared belief in freedom, liberty and democracy. I’m a true believer in that American dream, and editorial cartooning gives me a voice to reveal whatever nightmares try to corrupt it. I hope that doesn’t sound too cheesy, but, at the end of the day, I’m a patriot at heart.

Have you ever been sent hate mail or been the subject of a letter to the editor for a particular cartoon that you drew? How did you handle that situation?

Oh, yeah! For the last three years I did editorial cartoons for The Wenatchee World in North Central Washington. That region is “redder” than most of Texas. So my often left-of-center toons developed a nice “fan club.” For a while I had several people praying for me, but eventually most were OK with the idea that I was going to Hell.

As an editorial cartoonist, your job is to make people think. If people are taking the time to write hate mail, you’ve done your job. And if people on your side of the issue write letters to the editor in your defense, a dialogue has been started. You can’t ask for better than that.

Obviously, you can’t please everyone all of the time. So, in general, what advice would you give an up-and-coming cartoonist on how to handle criticism and public scrutiny?

Develop a thick skin. Keep it about the issues and don’t ever let it get personal. Remember the old axiom that you’ll hear from ten upset readers for every one happy one; that doesn’t mean there aren’t more happy ones out there, just that upset people are more eager to raise their voice. And, again, if you’re getting people to respond and talk about the issues, you’re doing your job well.

What advice would you give someone who is thinking about a career in cartooning?

Be prepared to do something else to pay the bills. Editorial cartooning is a brutal, brutal field to break into these days. By most accounts, there are fewer than 100 full-time, paying, editorial-cartooning gigs in the country. To put that in perspective, there are more than 400 players under contract in the NBA. The best advice I received about breaking in was to develop the widest set of journalism tools possible. My first full-time job was as a graphics editor at The (Longview, Wash.) Daily News. Once in the door, I started doing editorial cartoons within a few weeks. In Wenatchee, I was a copy editor and then the features editor, but was able to get editorial cartooning added to my job description. I won’t lie: It’s tough going in today’s market. But if you’re willing to bring something else to the table, you can still make a go of it.

Most creative types love good pub, and I’m no exception. I’ve been honored recently to be featured in a pair of print publications, both of which have been gracious enough to let me reproduce their work here. First up is “No Walls in His World,” by Karen Larsen of my hometown newspaper, the Douglas County Empire Press. A cover image and the article in its entirety are available below; its also available as a PDF download of the newspaper pages. (Special thanks to Karen and Empire Press publisher Mike Cassidy for allowing this reprint.)

Look for the other piece, from Blend, a national magazine about student journalism, shortly.

No walls in his world:
Fiber connection lets local
man pursue degree while
putting cartoons on web

By Karen Larsen

After serving as copy editor, features editor and then also editorial cartoonist for the Wenatchee World, Andy Wahl has moved on to pursue a master’s degree and a free lance career.

However, the Waterville resident is doing it all from his home office right here in town.

Wahl is pursuing a distance degree from Fort Hays State University in liberal studies with an emphasis in history. At the same time he is marketing a weekly editorial cartoon on the web, both through a personal web-site and through several other sites that feature his work.

With the help of fiber-optics connection, Wahl said that he is able to pursue his education and find millions of readers from locations around the world.

“The ability to do that while standing in the middle of a wheat field is just astounding to me,” Wahl said.

Wahl’s interest in journalism and in cartooning goes far back into his childhood. When he was five years old, he published his first newspaper using carbon paper and an old typewriter that he rescued from retirement. He published the newspaper, which he called “The Shooting Star,” on and off up until just before his senior year in college.

In fact, it was some of his self-published clips that landed him his first journalism job at the Longview Daily News.

Wahl was hired by the Wenatchee World in 1999. The World began to publish Wahl‘s editorial cartoons in 2004.

Wahl said that before he writes each cartoon he thinks about what is the most important thing happening in the news that week. For the past few years, the answer had usually been the war in Iraq, and President Bush’s leadership in that war. Those were topics that he frequented during his time at the World.

For this reason, he received many letters of criticism. Wahl said, that though he considers himself to be a political liberal, he also satirized Clinton during the scandals that unfolded during his presidency. “You have to be able to hold everybody accountable,” Wahl said of the job of an editorial cartoonist.

He added that though he was often criticized for lack of patriotism, patriotism is in fact one of the values that inspires his cartooning. “We have been brought together around the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and that’s worth cartooning about… It’s only through criticism that we do get better,” Wahl said.

Wahl said that though he feels that it is wrong that the Iraq war has virtually disappeared as an election issue, he has been glad to be able to turn his cartooning to the election itself.

With a woman and an African American as serious contenders for the first time in U.S. history, and with the potential for what he calls a “generational showdown” between McCain and Obama, Wahl has found this election to be fascinating and rich in material for his work.

Wahl said that behind each cartoon he writes, is a large amount of time spent reading and analyzing the news. Then he usually spends time thinking about the topic he will choose and then doodling on a sketchpad. After he feels satisfied with his work, he takes the pad and scans it onto his computer.

Wahl said that he does touch-up and adds dialogue digitally. “Each year the process is becoming increasingly digital,” Wahl said about his cartooning.

During 2005 and 2006, Wahl became the first American to place back to back in the United Nations Correspondents Association Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Awards. Each year more than 800 cartoonists from around the world participate in the competition.

Wahl said that he tries to enter highly visual cartoons that can be understood without knowing English. In 2006, Wahl won the award for his cartoon, “Checking the Gauge” which featured a picture of the world, with gas tank running empty.

Wahl said that the next direction he plans to take with his cartooning is to create a serial comic on-line. He will try to develop an audience for this comic and a market for the collected edition.

When Wahl is awarded his master’s degree in two to three years time, he also plans to look for an adjunct faculty position at a community college, and continue to develop his cartoon career in his spare time.

Wahl’s cartoons can be viewed at his web-site at www.offthewahl.com.

As you might have noticed, weekday blog posts have fallen to the wayside. With grad school taking more time than expected, I’m in the process of reevaluating which other projects get my attention. I’ve enjoyed writing reviews of comics, music and movies, but time spent blogging is also time spent not cartooning. I need to figure out which projects deliver the best creative bang for the buck.

The OtWP Blog will still be a venue for my work, including weekly Editorial Cartoons. But until I figure out which projects I’ll be focusing on, the blog will be limited to that cartoon and OtWP News.

I’ve received more information about the previously announced art show I’ll be taking part in a few weeks. I’m not sure how many pieces I’ll have in it, but I’m hoping it will be several. Details for those who are interested:

What: “Left, Right, & Wrong: Celebrating the Art of Editorial Cartooning,” an exhibition presented by Cartoonists Northwest and The Art Institute of Seattle
Where: The Art Institute of Seattle’s Burnley Gallery
When: Feb. 25 through March 31; public reception Feb. 29 from 4 to 7 p.m.
For more information: mlivingston@aii.edu or (206) 239-2562

As for the “why,” a few words from the organizers, lifted from the press release:

“We think it’s important – especially in this election year – to recognize the power of art in shaping political discussion,” says Roby Gilbert, show curator and Director of the Animation program at The Art Institute of Seattle. “Whether from the left or right, art is a powerful weapon in the war to persuade. This show celebrates the history and triumph of editorial art from a variety of perspectives.”

“Cartoons have this unique ability to traverse taboo topics and politically correct ‘red tape’ and comment on them with a wonderful blend of humor and poignancy that would be impossible with other tools of public communication! They’re the loud guy in the back of the crowd who shouts out exactly what you were thinking, but could never say,” says Luke Martin, President of Cartoonists Northwest.

I plan to attend to the opening reception. Maybe I’ll see some of you there.