You know, there is not much to say with this cartoon. The animals in the office I already talked about. The joke is good, but nothing special. Even the background, although nice, is not particularly interesting. (Except for those L-shaped windows on the building on the right, I stole this idea from the late Great Darwyn Cooke.)
So I have to admit that I was a little confused to understand what to talk about, and that is when it hit me – in the shadows. You probably have not even noticed it, is not it? But that's quite the point.
Years ago, I looked for someone to subcontract the shading of my drawings. We wager the cartoonists have to create a lot of cartoons a week to make a living, and I thought it was a way to take off some of the work on some of the work that I do not have. I have not really appreciated. It took a few tries, but I finally found a great partner in my assistant, Rick Hughes.
Look at the gradations in the shading. Look at how the lighting is done. Watch how the important parts appear, and the background moves away. Look at the subtle saturated paper effect. Rick is the man. And he does everything beautifully, in time, and without any contribution from me.
Every artist should have his own Rick. I am so glad to have mine.