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Bored Panda had the chance to interview Tom Toro again to learn more about his creative journey. The artist shared that he has been drawn to cartoons since a very early age. "I was a huge fan of Calvin & Hobbes, The Far Side, Garfield, and the Disney movies of the 1980s and '90s. I can remember pausing my VHS tape of The Little Mermaid to copy my favorite moments on a sketchpad. In school, I was a very good student and I would always finish my classwork early, which left plenty of time for doodling in the margins of my books."
However, Tom didn't think of cartooning as a career until college, when he started creating a weekly strip for a student newspaper. "Being published for the first time, and having my work circulate around campus, was a thrilling experience. I was hooked. I wish I could say it was a smooth road from there to building a career as a professional freelancer, but no; it was full of twists and turns and dead-ends and flat tires – and it still is! Very slowly, and haltingly, drawing by drawing, client by client, I learned the craft and gradually got a toehold in the field."
When discussing the creative process for crafting a one-panel comic, Tom shared that his work begins like any other piece of art: "with a blank page and an even blanker brain."
"I never know where my ideas will come from. Sometimes it's an experience I've had; sometimes it's a random image that pops into my mind; but sometimes it's literally nothing, nothing at all, and I'll sit there like a bump on a log with zero thoughts in my head. This might sound strange, but nothingness is actually a vital element in the creative process. Boredom is an artist's best friend. When you allow yourself to get bored, don't reach for your phone, don't scroll the New York Times headlines, and don't get up to make that tenth cup of tea. Your brain will begin to entertain itself. And that's when the fun stuff happens. I cherish my boredom and I guard it vigilantly."
Many of Tom's comics explore themes of climate change, so we asked him how he views his work's role in raising awareness about these critical issues. "I'm very fortunate to collaborate with Yale Climate Connections, a great news organization that focuses on climate change," the artist replied. "We've found that cartoons are a powerful way to engage audiences across social media. What I do is I take YCC's articles about sea level rise, superstorms, weatherizing homes, rural electrification, whatever the topic might be, and I try to distill them into gag cartoons that accompany the articles. If our readers are amused by the cartoons, and intrigued, then hopefully it will inspire them to learn more – and maybe even get involved in solutions! Our mission is to inform the public about the enormous, complex, and urgent issue of climate change, but without creating a sense of doom. Doom is a demotivator. Humor is a good antidote to that."
Like any career, creating art comes with its challenges. For Tom, "other than the mortal limits of time and energy," the biggest challenge is staying curious – avoiding complacency, continuing to grow as an artist, and always pushing himself to try new techniques, explore new subjects, and embrace new influences. "It can be hard, once you're established in the field, to find a balance between consistency – delivering the content that your audience and clients have come to expect – and change – keeping things fresh and fun. I probably haven't succeeded at it. In fact, I know I haven't. But that's all the more reason to keep trying."
