Far Side’s longtime editor on what made Gary Larson’s creative process so unique

According to The front side editor, Gary Larson’s creative process was more akin to that of a novelist, rather than a cartoonist – which is precisely what led him to produce such singular, unreplicable work. In the course of his career. For artists, Larson’s process offers an insight into how to create work that is unmistakably their own.

In his introduction to The Complete Front Side Volume OneLarson’s long-time editor, Jake Morrissey, explains how Gary Larson differed from his peers at the process level, not just in the final product on the page. As Morrissey explains, For side Cartoons started at the level of the premise, rather than being derived from their punchline.

That is to say, how For side Readers will expect, while everyone went about cartoons in one conventional way, Larson swam upstream against the current, forming his own way through the industry – or, in other words, doing things in reverse.

Gary Larson started with a premise and found his way to a punchline

The front side Editor explains Larson’s process

As Jake Morrissey points out, most cartoonists actually work backwards; They create a setup to suit the payoff they want to deliver. Gary Larson, in contrast, started with an idea, having little or no idea of ​​where it would take him until he started doodling. This meant that he sometimes got lost along the way – partly explaining why so many For side Jokes are lost on readers during his Run. At the same time, this process was at the heart of The front side Wild and unpredictable behavior, which was ultimately what made it a success.

Morrissey’s introduction to The complete front side is framed around his rediscovery of old notes by Gary Larson, commenting on his own work, in which he wrote things like:

I have no idea why I drew this or what it means, but compared to the next cartoon, this is very normal.

As much as Gary Larson’s work can be summed up in a single sentence, the artist himself seemingly puts forward the best example here. “Normal” is always subjective, but when it came to The front sideThe “normality” or “weirdness” of a comic can only be determined by an internal balance, in relation to others For side comics.

In any case, look back The front sideAnd his fruitful creative collaboration with Gary Larson, prompted Morrissey to wonder the artist’s approach to his work, and what made it so special. The front side Editor wrote:

Rereading Gary’s notes, I am struck by how open he is to his own creativity, how willing he is to be guided by it. Some mention that his first ideas for cartoons turned into (puppeted?) panels that differed greatly from their inspiration.

As described by Jake Morrissey, What made Gary Larson stand out among cartoonists was that his creative process was organic, rather than mechanical.. That is, a For side Cartoon grew, rather than being constructed. For side Cartoons were a product of evolution, rather than design.

The front page editor on what made Gary Larson more than a garden-variety creator

A novelist’s approach to cartoons

This is particularly interesting, as noted by Jake Morrissey in The complete front sideHow Gary Larson’s creative process was different from other cartoonists, especially considering its similarity to the process described by many prose authors. Morrissey wrote:

What continues to interest me about Gary Larson the cartoonist is how his methods differ from those of his peers. Many cartoonists start with a gag, a punchline, and write to it. Gary starts with the seed of an idea, which often feels unconventional, and then it takes root a little.

Here, Morrissey uses a gardening metaphor that often appears in discourse about writing. Game of Thrones The author George RR Martin often describes himself as a gardener, while George Saunders – arguably the king of the American short story in the last three decades – advises against rigidly plotting stories, in favor of letting characters, plots and themes grow naturally.

It is fair to say, therefore, that Gary Larson used a novel’s approach to cartoons, which was what made The front side So spectacular. That is, it was a spectacle to see how a novelist’s ideas play out day by day in the strange pages of American newspapers. As much as each For side was intended to be engaged in isolation, it is inevitable for contemporary readers to consider it as a whole, the view of Larson’s corpus makes a study of his entire career more meaningful.

in other words, Artists working in all different kinds of mediums can look to Gary Larson for inspiration as they consider how they can approach their own work in unconventional or unexpected ways.In order for them to produce art that is as extraordinary and extraordinary as The front side. Meaning, a study of Larson’s process may prompt prose writers to consider what they can learn from musicians, musicians what they can learn from painters, painters what they can learn from authors, and so on.

The front page editor explains what makes Gary Larson an “exceptional” creator

The “subversively exciting” quality of the comic

As Jake Morrissey summed up, The organic quality of Gary Larson’s creative process was responsible for The front side success, and underlies what makes it enduringly fascinating Until today. Morrissey explained:

What is so extraordinary about the front side is that sometimes what sprouts is not what anyone expects, least of all Gary: he plants what he thinks is a carrot, and it Turns out to be a cabbage. It’s the feeling of not quite knowing how something will turn out that makes the Far Side subversively exhilarating.

There is another saying popular among writers: “No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.“That’s exactly what Morrissey is showing here as an indispensable part of what makes The front side So great. Gary Larson’s ability to emphasize his own expectations allowed him to constantly surprise, surprise and even shock readers.

Creative people, especially, should take this lesson to heart. While For side Fans will appreciate this behind-the-scenes insight into the strip, artists will hopefully find motivation to reframe their own approach to their work. For many people,Not quite knowing how something will turn out“is intimidating, and represents an inhibition to produce work. That is, it is one root cause of writer’s block, or equivalent artistic struggles. However, if the switch can be flipped, it can be the basis of a person’s creative flourishing .

Gary Larson deserves to be recognized as a pivotal 20th century artist

Rethinking The front side Legacy

When the great artists of the 20th century are discussed, Gary Larson’s name may not necessarily be at the top of many people’s minds – but he absolutely should be. Granted The front side His work reaches a more consistent audience than all but the most successful films and television programs; It is not out of line to say that more people probably remember reading The For side How have finished the books that perennially top the list of greatest 20th century novels.

The front side helped to inoculate American audiences against the increasingly absurdist humor that had come to dominate the culture, especially in the Internet age. Larson’s work helped sharpen a generation of readers’ sense of satire, and even more fundamentally, their sense of what is funny. – even if this was defined by a rejection, rather than an embrace of The front side. As more readers continue to discover The front side In the future, hopefully, a more widespread appreciation of Gary Larson’s impact will take root in the popular imagination.