Mark Anderson has loved drawing since youth.
Now, as an adult, Anderson gets paid for his passion. He is a cartoonist.
“I learned as a kid you could draw funny pictures for money and immediately, I was hooked,” said Anderson, of Schaumburg, who spoke to about 20 children last week at the Evergreen Park Public Library at 9400 S. Troy Ave.
Anderson’s work has appeared in several publications: Reader’s Digest, The Wall Street Journal, Good Housekeeping, Forbes, Barrons, Woman’s World, Harvard Business Review, Saturday Evening Post and American Legion Magazine.
His also has created designs on greeting cards for Papyrus, Gallant Greetings and Oatmeal Studios.
During his hourlong presentation at the library, Anderson taught youngsters to draw expressive cartoon faces, sketch bodies in motion, and write jokes for cartoons.
“I always loved to draw and loved being funny,” Anderson said. “It’s a good fit for me. My favorite thing about it is just making people laugh. I do not have another job. Cartooning is what I do. It’s basically the best job you can have. For me, it all began at a coffee table. The creative outlet was exactly what I was looking for, and as soon as I could, I began submitting cartoons to magazines.”
Anderson, who was reared in Iowa, said he was a cartoonist for his school’s newspaper at North Scott High School in Eldridge, Ia. He also was a cartoonist for his college newspaper at the University of Northern Iowa before he graduated in 1997.
Anderson said his cartoons depict a wide-range of subjects.
“My cartoons depict so many things, from dogs in offices . . and people who don’t understand all kinds of things,” Anderson said.
Several children said they were impressed by Anderson.
Xalani Mitchell, 8, said she also was fascinated with the cartoon world.
“When I grow up, I want to be a famous artist,” said Mitchell, of Evergreen Park. “I like to draw in my free time and now that it is summer vacation, I spend a lot of time drawing and reading books.”
Suzy Summers, 9, of Evergreen Park, also liked cartooning.
“I want to become a teacher one day and teach little kids,” Summers said. “I think learning how to draw cartoons can help me with that and I can use what I learn in my own classroom.”
Kelly White is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
