Bored Panda caught up with Harry to dive into his creative journey. Starting from the beginning, we were eager to learn how his career as a comic artist kicked off. "After graduating from art school and waiting tables to make ends meet, I started doing book cover illustration (lots of mysteries) and editorial illustrations. Mostly publishers in New York City. I was doing all right then - had solid freelance work, so I was able to quit my restaurant gig. One day, I decided to submit some cartoon ideas to The New Yorker. People had always told me I should try giving that magazine a shot, and I finally got around to it. After working on seven or eight samples I later put in the mail, I received a reply from The New Yorker editor, Francoise Mouly. She sent me back a nice letter, essentially telling me that it would be a long shot, but why don’t I submit some cover ideas? That’s how it all started. A year later I was doing both covers and cartoons for The New Yorker. Syndication came eight years later with Tribune media and now I have a daily newspaper Cartoon ‘Bliss’ in addition to my work for The New Yorker," the artist shared.
While many artists grapple with creative blocks, Harry revealed that he doesn't face such challenges when it comes to cartooning. "I suppose there was a time when that happened, but I don’t recall it being a problem. I would generally play hockey or go for a long hike. These days, I tend to do a lot of reading. I love the New York review of books and I get a lot of ideas from that publication. I’m always reading something. Going on hikes, or simply journaling every day as I do, helps me come up with ideas. Honestly, most of the time I just start drawing a tree and that’ll turn into some landscape…I’ll add a figure walking a dog…a caption eventually comes. So, it’s a purely organic process for me now. I just start drawing and I end up with a cartoon. There’s no pre-meditation whatsoever. This process is different when I work with Steve Martin."
You might've noticed that a lot of these comics feature dogs. Well, turns out, Harry's got a soft spot for our furry friends – he just can't resist their charm! "I have a dog, Junior, and he’s beautiful, and I love him very much. We spend a great deal of time together, and naturally, he inspires my work. Animals and nature are some of my favorite things and I don’t know why this is, but it is. Being in nature is calming and peaceful, and drawing nature from my memory of these long hikes (much like the old Chinese landscape artists used to do), continues that peaceful meditation when I’m sitting at my desk."
Speaking of dogs, Harry jokingly admits that the most challenging part of his creative process these days is tiring his furry companion out, just so he can get some peace and quiet for his drawing sessions. "I have a mini Australian Shepherd, and he requires a great deal of activity. He’s so damn cute, I can’t say no to the guy. The good news is he gets me outside for at least three or four hours each day. I like to be outside with him and I live in the woods where he can run and run and I can sip from my flask and take it all in."
