David Horsey - Cartoonist Survey #96

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist and columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, David Horsey, was born in 1951. He spent the first three years of his life in Indiana and then moved to Seattle, Washington. He was a cartoonist for his high school newspaper and in his freshman year at the University of Washington he started doing editorial cartoons. While at the University of Washington he became the first editorial cartoonist to be chosen as editor-in-chief of the college’s newspaper, The Daily. He graduated in 1976 with a B.A. in communications. After college David started his professional career as a reporter for the Bellevue Journal-American. In 1979 he was hired to be the editorial cartoonist of the Post-Intelligencer and he has been there ever since. In 1986, he earned a master's degree in international relations from the University of Kent in Canterbury, England.

He was awarded a Berryman Award for Cartoonist of the Year in 1998 by The National Press Foundation and followed that up by winning a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1999. Four years later he won another Pulitzer Prize and then in 2004 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Seattle University. He has traveled to Japan, Mexico and Europe and has been witness to presidential primaries, the Olympics, political conventions and the Super Bowl. David’s cartoons have been collected in numerous compilation books. He is syndicated by Tribune Media Services and his work appears in 200 newspapers including, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post. David still lives in Seattle, with his wife and two kids. Check out David’s blog at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, here.

What is your favorite pen to use?
After years of using cheap No. 2 brushes, I now use sets of cheap Micron pens.

Do you draw in pencil first and if so do you use a standard pencil or a mechanical one?
I use a 3H pencil.

Do you do your coloring by hand or on the computer?
I color on my computer using PhotoShop.

If you do your coloring by hand, what do you use?
On the rare occasion I color by hand, I use watercolors.

What type of paper do you use?
Bristol board.

What thing(s) do you hate to draw?
Bicycles.

Do you buy your supplies from big chain art store catalogues/websites or a local one that you physically go to?
Local.

Are there any rituals that you do before starting to draw?
Procrastinate for hours.

Do you listen to music while you draw and if so what genre?
Occasionally, mostly ‘80s rock and roll.

Did you read comics as a kid and if so what was your favorite?

If you mean comic books, Archie.

What is or was your favorite comic strip?
Doonesberry.

What was your favorite book as a child and do you still own a copy of it?
Wind In the Willows. Yes.

Did you have any formal art training and if so where did you receive it?
Yes, at the University of Washington.

Do you feel that the Internet is a blessing or a curse?
Both.

Did either of your parents draw?
My mother.

Who in your life is/was the most supportive of your art?
My mother.

Do you keep a sketchbook?
Nope.

Have you ever taught cartooning/drawing and if so did you enjoy the experience?
Yes, and I hated it.

Do you feel that talent or passion is more important in drawing?
I give the edge to talent.

Do you collect anything and if so what?
No.

If you were an animated cartoon character who do you think you would be?
Bugs Bunny.

Are you a righty or lefty?
Righty.

If you weren't an artist what would you want to do for work?
Documentary movies or best-selling novels.

In one or two sentences describe your drawing area.
It’s a room lined with bookshelves with my grandfather’s leather chair scooted up to a Bombay Company desk upon which sits my MacBook Pro hooked up to a 30-inch HP monitor.

Do you play any musical instruments?
French horn — once upon a time.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to pursue drawing as a career what would it be?
Make sure you actually know how to draw.

Who is your favorite artist?
Steve Hanks.

Thank you for taking the time to answer, David.

The next set of answers come all the way from Israel and are provided by the cartoonist for the strip Dry Bones, Yaakov Kirschen.