"All of It" - Award-winning political cartoonist shares her take on culture, community, & digital transformation

I've been looking forward to sitting down with Liza Donnelly since I first saw her live drawing the keynote speakers at the Stanford Women in Data Science Conference years ago. Here, she captures Stanford's Margot Gerritsen, welcoming all to the day's events.

Live Drawing of Margot Gerritsen, Professor of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, keynoting the Stanford Women in Data Science Conference, Palo Alto, CA - Liza Donnelly
        

Liza's style of simple lines and watercolor is surprisingly effective at capturing the essence of her subjects, be they data scientists in Silicon Valley, hot dog vendors in Manhattan, movie stars on the red carpet at the Oscars, or politicians taking in the state of the union in Washington DC.

In this extended conversation, we cover a number of topics, from the importance of cartoons and cartoonists in media and communications to the impact of technology on distribution and connection to an update on the tools of the 21rst century cartoonist.

(Below are clips, for the full interview click here , if you prefer to listen, rather than read or watch, Podcast is on Apple, Spotify, or click below)

Liza recounts her journey to becoming a political cartoonist, from the early days of hand-delivering her cartoons to The New Yorker Magazine office, hoping to have a piece purchased, and more importantly, published (the two are related, but turns out, not the same).

Liza discussed the impact of 9/11 on her mission, to use her talent to drive positive change in the world, especially on women's rights and feminist issues. She joined Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General and artist Plantu in Cartooning for Peace, formed after the Danish cartoons controversy of 2005. More recently, Liza was honored with 'Comic Relief', a one-woman show at the Norman Rockwell Museum, and she shares the meaning of this honor.

Liza Donnelly's post 9/11 cartoon, published by The New Yorker Magazine.
        

Next, we explored the new world of social media, and how having a direct connection with her fans, via Twitter and Medium, and other channels have impacted not only the publishing of her cartoons but her relationship with fans. She also discussed building multiple revenue streams from selling merchandise to direct sponsorship via Patreon and HAPPS. Liza is comfortable with trying new technology, and she's jumped into live streaming with both feet, hosting twice-daily live drawing on Instagram (M-F, 5p Eastern) and HAPPS (M-F 6p Eastern)

Finally, we closed with some drawing and a brief look at her sketch pad, a treasure trove of great ideas.

I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Making available as a podcast, as it's a perfect accompaniment to your walk.

Thanks again Liza.

The full interview - https://youtu.be/sStEQscyFlQ

References and links

Drawing upon humor for change - Liza Donnelly, TED Talk, 2010

Inside a cartoonists world - Liza Donnelly, TEDEd Talk 2011

Harmony through humor - Liza Donnelly, TEDx Bay Area 2014

Selfless Creativey - Liza Donnelly, TEDxCharlottesville 2020

Liza Donnelly, The New Yorker | WiDS 2019, theCUBE, SiliconANGLE?

Liza Donnelly dot com

Liza Donnelly on Medium

Liza Donnelly on Instagram

Liza Donnelly on Twitter

Liza Donnelly's The New Yorker Magazine profile

'Comic Relief' by Liza Donnelly, Norman Rockwell Museum

University of Connecticut Graduate School Commencement 2014

Women in Data Science (WiDS) Conference

Cartooning for Peace

Danish Cartoon Controversy - New York Times

Kofi Annan

Jean Plantu?

Cartoons Have the Power to Inform and to Offend - Kofi Annan, Qantata.de, United Nations, 2007

Kofi Annan Loved Cartoons, Liza Donnelly, Medium, August 28, 2018

The New Yorker Magazine?

Herbert Lawrence Block - Herblock -?

Andrew Wyeth -?

Jackson Pollock

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jackson-Pollock

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jackson-Pollock/images-videos?

Norman Rockwell

https://www.nrm.org/?

https://www.nrm.org/wp2016/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/NR-entering-his-studio-800x.jpg

https://www.nrm.org/2020/07/liza-donnelly-comic-relief/#artist

https://www.wikiart.org/en/norman-rockwell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Rockwell

The Saturday Evening Post

https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/issues/?issue-year=1920s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saturday_Evening_Post

Look Magazine

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Look_(American_magazine)

Murder in Mississippi by Norman Rockwell (painting)

James Thurber?

Photo Credit - Fred Palumbo, World Telegram staff photographer - Library of Congress. New York World-Telegram & Sun Collection.

Instagram Live Draws

Women and Covid Burden?

All Women Team?

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