Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivan Ehlers.
Ivan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’m a contributor to the New Yorker, American Bystander, Weekly Humorist and have yet to be kicked out of the ‘Usual Gang of Idiots’ at MAD Magazine. I would describe what I do as being one of those ruddy gentlemen without homes that yell funny things at you and demand a dollar if you laugh.
As a young man, I figured if all else failed I could take up cartooning. So when all else failed, I took up cartooning. I also write hilarious jokes and sometimes get paid for them.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As everyone knows, cartooning is the quickest and easiest path to riches. However, you’ll make a mistake if you’re only in it for the money. The road is wrought with near-constant rejection, a steady stream of hate mail and the most ephemeral of intermittent rewards.
It’s becoming harder and harder to satirize the world, especially when it comes to political cartooning. You think of the stupidest, most unimaginable idiocy possibly and the next week it becomes policy. To push jokes to their absolute extreme runs the risk of giving the politicians things they may mistake for very fine ideas.
That being said, I keep it smooth.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
I try to go a step beyond caricature and capture the essence of people in my drawings.
Most people in the public sphere have a full-time job trying to mask what they really feel and who they really are. My job is trying to reveal what that really is. It’s usually quite grotesque, you understand.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.behance.net/IvanE
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ivan_ehlers/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/IvanEhlers
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