President of National Cartoonists Society, New Yorker and Ginger Meggs cartoonist, stand-up comedian, former president of the Australian Cartoonists Association, MAD magazine and editorial cartoonist, and on and on. Medium’s recent interview with Jason Chatfield begins with an impressive list of achievements credited to this young man.

Excerpt from the interview:

Q4) When you say you’re a cartoonist, not an illustrator, what’s the difference for you?

Jason : Illustrators are brilliant at what they do, so I don’t want to undermine illustrators in distinguishing the two jobs.

The difference is that cartoonists come up with the idea AND the drawing. Illustrators take a brief from someone as to what they’d like to illustrate, for the most part. Those who do not, are closer to fine artists than ‘illustrators’, in that they have their own vision and style and are able to express it through exhibition in various media. The short answer is: The cartoonist writes AND draws.

Q5) Would you say people have certain misconceptions about cartoonists?

Jason : I think they do- it’s not as carefree and aloof a life as some people think. Not all cartoonists are quiet, introverted geniuses tucked away in a cabin somewhere. Many are also outgoing, funny storytellers and artists with various other skills who might surprise you when they tell you they’re a cartoonist. We also aren’t all old white guys from Connecticut. The cartooning world is a vastly culturally, gender and background diverse industry in 2020, with various styles and voices. I think it’s important people know we’re not all old white guys with syndication deals 🙂

Read the full and fun Jason interview with Medium.