Craig George doesn’t look like any of the characters in his cartoons. This much was confirmed last week when George paid a visit to the Producer.
You may recognize his name as being the same one that adorns the editorial cartoon on page 6 every week. See the page opposite for confirmation.
George has been creating cartoons exclusive to the Producer for about four years and is also the creator of a comic strip, Rural Rootz. From that strip, four cartoon book compilations have sprung. All told, George’s work appears in about 30 different prairie publications.
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How does a guy get into this line of work? George started out with an interest in art and illustration, which eventually led him to the Alberta College of Art.
After that, he began drawing cartoons for the Lloydminster Times, where he had taken a job selling newspaper advertising as an entry point to future cartoon opportunities. He developed his comic strip and branched out.
When it comes time to draw his weekly cartoon for the Producer, George calls upon his own rural roots. He grew up on a mixed farm in the Marwayne, Alta., region and maintains an interest in agriculture and rural life.
“You have to have kind of a cynical bend to you,” said George about the cartoonist viewpoint.
What makes a good cartoon? George pondered the question before answering.
“It has to be humorous and at the same time be thought-provoking. You have to inspire people to laugh and at the same time to think about what you’re trying to say.”
If you’ve got any comments or inspirations for George’s cartoons, go to the Producer website at www.producer.com, find his cartoon and file to his posted e-mail address, or send a letter care of the newspaper and we’ll send it on.
As astute readers know, George isn’t the only cartoonist who favors this newspaper with wry and witty points of view.
Nadine Hoffman of Melfort, Sask., and Patrick Doetzel of Macklin, Sask., are also frequent contributors to page six. Their work helps the Producer keep various flavours in the editorial mix.
As George pointed out last week, sometimes there isn’t a lot to laugh about in the agricultural industry.
So, as he and other cartoonists show, a sense of humor can help us keep it all in perspective.
