I know this will come as a shock to you, but I’ve never considered myself much of a “fine artist.” Oh, you’re too kind, but it’s true. I’ve never taken serious art lessons, and I’m living proof you don’t need to do so to be a cartoonist. However, I can attest that if you aspire to draw cartoons, art lessons will help. It’s true what the how-to books tell you: no matter how exaggerated your cartooning technique, a grounding in good art fundamentals will make life easier. And your work look better. I think of this now when I look at the above A&J from five years ago. At the time I drew it in 2014, I was pretty satisfied with myself. I had come a long way to arrive at what I judged was the final version of the characters. However, since the above comic strip first appeared in newspapers, I began dabbling in more reality-based figure drawing for my own amusement. It immediately had an impact on my work. It made me wish I had taken those lessons a long time ago! I have to go. Maybe I’ll talk about this a little more tomorrow.