This little red sketchbook was my constant companion for most of September and October. Two nights ago, I filled the last page. Between its covers now sit 232 new cartoon ideas, all awaiting their opportunities to be drawn into final form.
Well, maybe not all. Out of 232 ideas that I sketched out, I'd estimate that 50 or so are funny to me but probably wouldn't make a lick of sense to anyone else. Another 50 of them are just brain farts: ideas I had to get out of my head so I could move on to the next (and hopefully better) ones. Maybe 25 or so would have been funny to the rest of the world on the day that I drew them; now, not so much. More than a few are too dark and angry to share with the world (I get my anger out of my system with a pen and paper). A half-dozen or so are too ambitious for my meager cartooning skills and may need to be handed off to other artists.
But the rest? They're gold, Jerry, gold!
So, some time soon (depending on when I complete my latest batch of writing deadlines) I shall sit down with these sketchbook and start transforming some of these 232 sketches into finished artwork. I'll also be tapping into the huge file of other cartoon ideas I have sketched out. I've got enough gag ideas to keep my busy for another few years -- especially at the rate at which I draw.
But meanwhile, the idea pile keeps getting thicker. I started a new sketchbook last night. That one only has three sketches in it so far, but there are 119 more pages to fill.
I love a challenge...