Check Out Lars Kenseth’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lars Kenseth.

Lars, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
If there was anything I was ever *meant* to do, it was drawn cartoons. When I was in Montessori school, I was virtually tethered to the marker table, and it only got worse from there. I realized really quickly that I loved to make people laugh, and that cartoons were a really special kind of comedy that not everyone could do. And, since my family moved around a lot, cartoons – along with silly voices and pratfalls off the plastic slide at recess – became an integral part of my ice-breaking repertoire. When I wasn’t doing that, I was in the humor section of Barnes & Noble inhaling cartoon volumes by legends like Sam Gross, Gahan Wilson and Charles Addams. It always seemed like The New Yorker was calling my name. The cartoons there were like nothing else I’d ever seen – intelligent, adult, hilarious – and in 2016, I got to join the magazine’s ranks. I have to pinch myself sometimes – I get to draw for a living! And thankfully, it’s never felt like a job. I’m still that kid at the marker table.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Before I was a published cartoonist, I was a TV comedy writer (and still am) which is a stressful job filled with big egos, constant rejection and limitless bureaucracy. You have to accept that you a) are not always in control and b) need a thick skin. This has really prepared me well for the cartooning world, which is competitive and an increasingly small market. It’s not always easy. Sometimes you’ll have a cartoon that you’re SURE is great, but can’t sell it. Thankfully, the community of cartoonists is incredibly kind and giving, always there to commiserate – always building each other up. I think maybe it’s because, to do this, you really have to love it. It’s in your DNA. And if you see that love in someone else, there’s an inherent camaraderie there – one that gets stronger with every rejection.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a cartoonist that’s been published in The New Yorker, Playboy, Esquire, MAD Magazine, Alta: Journal of California and Barrons. If you’ve seen my cartoons, you know that what sets me apart is my unique drawing style – my characters are lumpy, no-necked creatures that look closer to lozenges than people.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My main piece of advice is, if you love cartoons: do it. Just draw. Draw a lot. That’s integral to finding a style and a voice that’s all your own. It won’t come easy, but if you try hard enough and long enough, you’ll be rewarded. But chances are if you love cartoons, you’re probably doing this already. Secondarily, read everything. Being a successful cartoonist, or any kind of humorist means seeing the world clearly. It doesn’t have to be how other people see it, but the closer that you can get to some kind of funny, inherent truth, the better. You’ll have something to say, a perspective that’s yours alone and, ideally, makes people laugh.

Contact Info:

• Website: larskenseth.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/larskenseth/?hl=en
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/larskenseth?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
• Other: https://society6.com/larskenseth

Image Credits
Cartoons originally appeared in The New Yorker