Taking calculus as a senior in high school, I spent most of a semester drawing cartoons in my notebook. I still can't do calculus, but I think the cartoons have probably been more useful in the long run.
The original cartoons were distinguished by noses, which have now somehow vanished from my style. The samples you see here are from the collection of Bruce R. Johnson.
I've never taken a drawing class - although I was an art history major in college, so I've LOOKED at a lot of paintings - but I try to get the anatomy right by either looking at myself in a mirror or by getting my sister, Sara Barry, to sit in odd positions while I figure out how to draw them. (She spent quite some time as Merrilyn Doyle). It's the sort of thing you can only really ask of family.
.
.
I think the cartoons have improved in style even since I started this site: compare, for example, older cartoons like Amy and Jim or Michael and Esther with more current examples like Charlotte Miller or Greta in a taxi.
.
.