Article in the UA Journal

Another article promoting my work. This is the UA Journal. A union trade magazine that is circulated in the USA and Canada. The members include plumbers, pipefitters, sprinklerfitters, steamfitters, and service techs. The number given me as to circulation was 300,000. Nice to get some notice. And now to parlay that into a paid gig, thank you very much.

Buy Local.

Today was a good day. The local town paper has decided to promote the work of one of their own. "Buy Local" is the current mantra of many. The Sun has taken that encouragement to heart. They have decided they will carry my "Knot Rite" cartoon in their publication.

The Westerly Sun has joined a world "Knot Rite". I hope the partnership proves to be a long lasting fun one. My aim is to bring some home grown humor to their pages.

And for a certainty I'll be forever grateful to the folks at The Westerly Sun for giving me this opportunity.

I'm Not Just A Cartoonist.

The images here are from one freelance project I did for an organized group of dental assistants. Multiple concepts were created for this project. These are just a few of the ideas I came up with. My favorite was not the one chosen, but that’s the way it goes when working with a client. Their tastes aren't always compatible with your own.

I’ve also worked on a variety of projects in an art department environment. While cartooning remains my favorite way of artistic expression, I am not without my abilities to thrive artistically in other situations. And I don’t mind working in a group environment.

Reverse Job Fair

Being tired of job fairs that fail in getting me a job, I'm going to try the reverse. I'll just invite potential employers and have them come to me. "Yes, I agree. A stroke of genius." Although my wife's response to this idea was; "You let me know how that works out for you. OK."

The idea is simple. I sit on a folding chair at Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island enjoying the scenery whilst holding a clipboard. And when the employer wanna-bees show up in droves, looking all pitiful, just like your normal job fairs, I just ask them questions about what their expectations are regarding having me as an employee. I'll also ask them weird questions that seem not to have anything to do with reality as we know it just to confuse and annoy them (also just like a normal job fair).

I know some of you might be skeptical about this idea. But I've officially crossed over that point where it matters anymore. I'm at the point where I'm ready to pick a place to work and just show up and start working. And when asked questions about who I am, I'll just explain I was hired by them last week. And eventually, I'll go to the HR office and complain about how I haven't gotten a check yet. Fill out the paper work and confuse them by my insanity into indirectly hiring me. That idea, as flawless as it seems, might not work as well as the reverse job fair idea. I'll keep that one as PLAN B.

If you know of someone who might fit the bill of a capable employer. Who is fair and appreciates a good worker, albeit one who is currently a casualty of the current economic climate, make them aware of my reverse job fair. Let them know of this once in a lifetime opportunity they simply cannot afford to miss.

And if you're looking for someone capable of coming up with fail proof schemes and ideas . . .

. . . I might be the person you're looking for.

©2010 William Agosto

Some of my cartoons find a home in Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine.

Starting with their Spring issue, cgmagazine (Celebrating Greyhounds) will be carrying my "Knot Rite" cartoons. But obviously the gags will be specific to the greyhound breed.

To subscribe go to their website at;

http://www.adopt-a-greyhound.org/cgmagazine/index.html

Not My First Rodeo.

Recently Rhode Island Monthly decided to run an article about me and my cartooning. Finding the notion of it strange and exciting at the same time, I ran with it in order to promote my cartoon "Knot Rite".

Running the article was decided by them some months ago. I was beginning to think they'd drop the idea when I received a phone call from an assistant art director to set up a photo shoot for the article. Darn! I had hoped it would be just my words and a cartoon. What I look like would remain a mystery. I could be an enigma. But, nay! They would take pictures of me pretending that I'm drawing and the like. Silly poses I hope don't trump my cartoons for humor.

Being that I was excited about this exposure, I decided to write about it. Then it dawned on me. This isn't my first rodeo. The UA Journal had a write up about me years ago.* It's a strange thing to have articles written up about you. On the one hand it's flattering. But on the other, I like anonymity. I like to hide behind my cartoons. But ironically, cartoons don't sell themselves. Not usually. One must sell the whole package, I suppose. The cartoonist has to be part and parcel to his creation.

Ironic. It's not my first rodeo, but each positive step forward always feels like the first.

* see picture.

Knot Rite goes green. (Lighthouse Digest March 2008)

Some "Knot Rite" cartoons.

Intro:

By trade I'm a construction worker. That is when the economy is thriving and there's work to be had. What I aspire to be is a cartoonist. To that aim I'm making some strides. I am the cartoonist for cgmagazine (Celebrating Greyhounds). Lighthouse Digest has printed one of my "green" gags. Rhode Island Monthly has plans to print one of my cartoons in the spring of 2010. The Show Dog Reporter has the same plans also for the spring. So encouraging things are happening.

My quirky, warped sense of humor has been described by some as "not right". Giving me the inspiration for the title of the cartoon; "Knot Rite".

Knot Rite is about anything. Animals, humans, relationships, puns. Anything that finds its way into my cranium looking for release in a humorous way. That's what happens with cartoonists. Things enter our minds and somehow it suffers a strange transformation and exits the mind hopefully with a new identity that people find funny. But alas, sometimes the transformation isn't complete. The result is cartoonists' Kryptonite. The uttering of the words; "I don't get it."