Bored Panda reached out to Scott Johnston, a talented cartoonist with over two decades of experience creating cartoons for newspapers.
Scott opened up about his journey, saying, "I have been creating editorial cartoons for a local newspaper for almost 24 years now. About three years ago, I decided to challenge myself to see if I could also draw single-panel gag cartoons on a variety of subjects, which turned out to be a lot of fun." He further explained why he turned to social media: "to share my gag cartoons." The feedback on social media, he revealed, was far more engaging than he expected, with comments, likes, and shares "far more than for my editorial work," and his cartoons' reach expanding astonishingly "from thousands of people to, in some cases, hundreds of thousands."
Describing his creative process, Scott shared that he's "thinking of new angles on familiar situations all the time and never know when an idea will strike me." Inspiration could strike during any mundane activity, from "walking the dog" to "falling asleep at night." He emphasized the importance of capturing these fleeting ideas quickly, now using his phone instead of the traditional pen and paper. This is followed by a meticulous process to refine each cartoon, involving "a lot of experimentation" to perfect both the wording and the drawing.
Feedback from social media has become an integral part of his workflow, helping him strike the right balance in his cartoons. Scott pointed out, "Cartoonists are always walking the line between over-explaining a joke and being too subtle." He appreciates when followers not only find his work humorous but also when they share that his cartoons made them think. This interaction has been crucial, especially in deciding which cartoons to feature in his self-published books.
