Just like last time, Bored Panda reached out to David Ostow. As mentioned before, living in New York City with his wife and two sons, Ostow draws much of his inspiration from his experiences as a stay-at-home dad.
At first, David shared with us, "There's no one moment; it was sort of a series of turns life took. Very early in my attempts at doing cartoons, my wife—a publicist—managed to get some comics I had made about life in New York on BuzzFeed. Watching complete strangers on the internet respond to my work was a real trip and was maybe the catalyst that led me to continue seeking avenues for publication and, eventually, to start submitting to The New Yorker."
When asked about balancing his career and being a parent, the artist told Bored Panda, "At different points in my parenting journey, it's been hard to a greater or lesser degree. When my older son was a baby, it was possible to sneak some drawing in early in the morning or maybe during nap times. Now he's five and his younger brother is two, and I'm definitely at a low point in my productivity. Sometimes it's frustrating, and I need to tell myself it's temporary and also remind myself to enjoy this time with my kids because I'll never get it back. Soon they'll both be in school, and I'll be freer to do my work but also maybe sad to be exiting this phase of parenthood."
We also inquired David about whether he has any projects he's currently working on, and he was happy to tell us about it more, "The story I'm working on now is a superhero story that kind of plays with the idea of what it means to be super. But honestly, it's very much in development, and I've got so many other ideas bouncing around in my head that it's quite possible one of them will come along and gobble up the current one," said Ostow. He humorously added, "I'm a bit scattered at the moment (or, who am I kidding, always)."
The artist also advised, "Keep a sketchbook and draw from observation as often as possible. Make this a regular exercise. I promise if you do that, your drawing will improve, and as your strengths and weaknesses work themselves out, you'll start to develop a style. Also, find a local figure drawing class. Get familiar with the human body. I haven't had the time or energy to sketch or take classes regularly in a very long time, and my craft has definitely suffered for it."
We were also curious about what makes New York a special place for David and the artist was quick to share his thoughts, "New York is a wacky, intense, overwhelming place," he noted. "When I started drawing cartoons, the majority of them were New York-themed. This city has an enormous population and even among those who don't live here, it has an outsized reputation. So that's a pretty big built-in audience. That said, I tend to like my work best when it's broadly relatable even to people who don't have New York as a touchstone."
