The By George! group is a loose association of illustrators and cartoonists who meet approximately once a month to share notes, learn from one another and enjoy each other's company in honor of the late Charlotte Observer cartoonist and National Cartoonist Society president George Breisacher.
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August 2010On Monday, August 30, "Lightenin'" Leon Linet and "Grinnin'" Greg Russell met at Heroes Aren't Hard to Find for the monthly By George meeting. Linet hadn't met the infamous Shelton Drum before, so he chatted with him about his comic book collection from the '60s and early '70s. Linet and Russell decided to go to the ol' standby Showmars for lunch. After they had ordered and sat down, "Joltin'" Jerrard Polk somehow sniffed them out and asked, "Are you the By George group?" He said it was obvious because of all of the cartoons spread across the table. Polk had met Dave McDonald at the HeroesCon in June and learned about the group from him. 
Linet bragged that he had another editorial cartoon printed in The Times ... the Fort Mill Times, that is. You can see it to the left in all its glory. He was also building a portfolio of greeting card designs to send to American Greetings. And he was planning on creating a professional Facebook page for his art. Russell brought copies of his "Curser and the Mouse" comic strip he had been publishing once a week on Facebook and DeviantArt. He had also been creating new paintings to exhibit at the Charlotte Art League. 
Polk said that at the age of 15, he was trained in drawing caricatures at Carowinds theme park. There he learned to draw quickly and entertain people as he drew them. Afterwards, he had his own kiosk at Charlottetown Mall where he drew caricatures. Later, he married a young lady from Bermuda and moved there to become the only caricature artist in the country. More recently, he attended The 2009 Illustration Academy at the Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, Fl. 
He had a lot of great advice for Linet and Russell. He told them how to squish a head like a balloon and make the other end bulge out to make a great caricature. He also recommended finding appropriate magazine or book publishers in the bookstore, developing a mailing list and sending postcards to those publishers two or three times a year. Polk showed the others his sketchbook. Linet shared copies of his cartoons. After a fun and informative lunch, the three parted ways without stopping to take a group photo. Please come out next month to meet our two newbies. They're making you look bad. |
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