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BorgBlog
Take a peek over Jim Borgman's shoulder


Jim Borgman has been the Enquirer's editorial cartoonist since 1976. Borgman has won every major award in his field, including the 1991 Pulitzer Prize, the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1993, and most recently, the Adamson Award in 2005 as International Cartoonist of the Year. His award-winning daily comic strip Zits, co-created with Jerry Scott, chronicles the life of 15-year-old Jeremy Duncan, his family and friends through the glories and challenges of the teenage years. Since debuting in July 1997, Zits has regularly finished #1 in reader comics polls across America and is syndicated in more than 1300 newspapers around the world.

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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Work Schedule

A recent comment asked about my work schedule.

I begin every day reading the Enquirer and usually the NY Times and by listening to NPR as I drive the carpool or on my way to work. Later in the day I scan the Cincy Post and tuck in those random articles people send me or I run across here and there. (Yesterday, while getting my oil changed I read a fabulous story in the Ny Times magazine about those pre-sliced apples we now see in grocery stores and fast food chains.) Late at night I usually peruse some web sites and may (or may not) catch some CNN or The Daily Show.

I try to get my five editorial cartoons per week done in the daytime, usually in small clusters, at my Enquirer office, though I am responsive to significant events whenever they happen. The editorial cartoons require large blocks of focused time, to read and get my head deep into the news. I do them best with my door closed and minimal interruption at the newspaper surrounded by the newsroom.

Zits, the comic strip I do with Jerry Scott, is terrific for its mobility. By the time I sit down with them, the strips are pretty much written and roughed out, so I can pencil, letter, ink and clean them up in the midst of commotion.

So those get done in the evenings, weekends and between the cracks. I often pencil, for example, while waiting in the car (where I keep a mini-drawing board in the trunk that I can prop against the steering wheel) while my daughter is at guitar practice. I've penciled in orthodontist's offices, in the parking lot outside cheerleading practice, and at out-of-the-way tables at coffee shops and lunch joints. Inking, on the other hand, requires the stability of my studio nest.

One of the very few complaints I have about my life as a cartoonist is that there is never a chance to truly stop working. I have twelve published pieces every week and, of course, the smattering of pro bono drawings every cartoonist is asked to do for retiring co-workers, charity events and community causes. So I'm constantly on the prowl for ideas and always looking for a chance to catch back up to my deadlines, which usually feel just beyond reach.

It is the best overwhelming job in the world. But there are times when I look longingly at a newspaper and wish I could simply read it like everyone else instead of grinding it up, kneading it into paste and molding it into tomorrow's commentary.


10 Comments:

at 2/22/06, 3:06 PM Blogger Eric! said...

Jim-
Do you ever do any art for yourself?
Keep any pieces or hang your own work to display?
Do you collect any art? anything else?
Do you have a dream project or is that what you are currently doing?
As always, thanks for sharing.

 
at 2/22/06, 6:27 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is a great question, Eric!

Jim, do you get bothered by others while you're pencilling comic strips in public?

It's amazing that you pencil comic strips in the car. I can't even imagine that. You must spend a lot of time there. :-)

 
at 2/23/06, 8:16 AM Blogger Jim Borgman said...

The brain cells I have that are devoted to art are pretty much exhausted once I've met my quota of deadlines, so I don't draw or paint for myself at this point in my life. I expect that to change when I shed some deadline obligations someday and have the freedom to explore other strata of my imagination.

I own a lot of cartoon art and illustrations by others, friends mostly with whom I've traded over the years. The acquisition phase has slowed a lot -- the last new piece I got was probably a trade with CF Payne a few years ago.

I keep a file of projects I'd like to jump into someday. But these are very busy years for me -- two jobs, a big family, lots of responsibilities. I consider it a successful week if I haven't fallen behind.

 
at 2/23/06, 10:05 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jim, one quick question. What dimensions do you draw your cartoons initially? I know that on the web, they are approx. 600X400, but how much do you scale your work down, 75% or none at all?

 
at 2/24/06, 10:14 PM Blogger SecondComingOfBast said...

You have a creative impulse that you just cannot stifle, when you get an idea, you have to express it. Like for example, I remember the one you did about the Cincinnati guy who inspected restaurants-I don't remember his name or the title, sorry, but I'm sure you remember who I'm talking about-and you portrayed him as a waiter in a restaurant handing a patron a bowl of soup with a big giant insect as he explained that it "seemed to be doing the backstroke". Hilarious stuff, and it cut to the bone of what you were relaying about this guy, who also had a reputation as a slum lord.

I think my all time favorite of yours though was during one of the Bengals more dismal years, when they were thinking of leaving Cincinnati, and you advised that the best way to keep them there was to draw a goal line around the city. The illustration of them fumbling around the city borders, stymied from ever getting past the borders, was laugh out loud funny.

Keep up the great work, Jim, I don't think you would be able to rest easy if you couldn't.

 
at 2/25/06, 9:10 PM Blogger Mike Martins said...

I know as a cartoonist, I am in constant need to want to create. My girlfriend gets upset because it takes alot of time from her. I know you probably have the same "time for life" problems. Any suggestions?

 
at 2/27/06, 11:23 AM Blogger Jim Borgman said...

I draw my originals 9" x 14" in most cases. I have a smaller template for originals I need to fit on a letter-size scanner bed, but that's only a comfortable size for certain relatively simple drawings.

 
at 2/27/06, 12:52 PM Blogger Jeff Hunter said...

I can imagine your brain is always on. While the schedule is hectic, you have found your calling and seem to enjoy what you are doing. That's a rarity for people in this world.

And really, could you sit down and read that President Bush shot Trent Lott while moose hunting and just go "hmm, that's interesting"?

My word: toealsqo - isn't that a town in Northwest Ohio?

 
at 2/28/06, 8:04 PM Anonymous Anonymous said...

Borgman sure has a lot of people to psychoanalyse him and tell him what he feels and why.

Liberals sure are big on what they feel, but they forget all about, and don't even mention what they think.

Hence the superiority we have over the weaker (liberal) species.

 
at 5/10/06, 11:05 AM Anonymous Anonymous said...

So JIm...
what is it exactly that you do?

 
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