Do you have a cartoon posted somewhere so that every day you can be reinspired by it?
Jonathan Plotkin is a nationally published editorial cartoonist, illustrator, educator and patron of the arts. His title as Artist and Chief Imagination Officer @ Spontoonist tickled Kathryn’s curiosity.
During her interview with him, Kathryn watched as Jonathan frequently made a note of something that may give him ideas for a future cartoon.
As a child and to this very day I have been a prolific doodler. Just ask my wife or kids. There is not a piece of paper in the house that doesn’t have something scribbled or drawn on its surface. Growing up it would be years before I realized that doodling in school actually helped me to learn by allowing what I was hearing in class to be imprinted into the images I was creating. But help it did!
I am a firm believer in the power of doodling to assist kids and adults of all ages to retain information especially if they are inclined to be visual learners as I am. The Spontoonist, or spontaneous cartoons, is a direct result of this effort to teach and inspire others to pick up a pencil or pen and allow their minds eye to register and retain information through the magic of drawn images.
Jonathan is also Co-Founder and Strategic Business Manager of The Drawing Board, which brings the creativity of New Yorker cartoonists to businesses that want help with innovation and strategic thinking. He is a standing member of the National Cartoonists Society and the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. His art can be found on the pages of the Chicago Tribune, American Bystander and other national print and online publications.
Here are some highlights of Jonathan and Kathryn’s discussion:
- Why does Jonathan think that creativity is the single most in-demand job?
- What is a signature quality of a creative person?
- Why is Jonathan’s title Chief Imagination Officer?
- What is important about learning how to listen?
- How does being non-judgmental facilitate our understanding of the nuances, the colors of the world?
- What is special and challenging about the relationship between parents and their adult children?
- What is visual metaphor?
Having the time to listen to yourself in addition to others…boy, in my lifetime, I wish I had listened to myself more…The listening goes both ways. You have to listen to another human being, and you have to listen to yourself in order to process and make sense of the world.
Jonathan Plotkin
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Kathryn Hayward, MD a conversation with Jonathan Plotkin