Meet Phil Witte

We recently connected with Phil Witte and have shared our conversation below.

Phil, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
You could say I found my purpose as a child—but I was too young to realize it.

Beginning around age eight, I drew cartoons—funny stuff, at least funny to me at the time. By age 11, I had a portfolio of cartoons, drawn with a No. 2 pencil on scrap paper. I sold my first cartoon when I was 15. I sold my second cartoon when I was in my 40s, and I didn’t pursue cartooning as a full-time career for another 10 years. My path took many detours, but I wouldn’t call them wrong turns.

Although I set cartooning aside after high school, I was always seeking a creative outlet. At Princeton I majored in creative writing, and for a while I thought I’d become a playwright. I also seriously considered journalism, especially after The Washington Post published a first-person account I wrote about volunteering at a Cambodian refugee camp. But with student loans looming I took the safe approach and went to law school at the University of Chicago.

I practiced law for many years, beginning at the largest firm in San Francisco. It was a grind. All the while I was searching for a more gratifying career. Along the way I failed as a short story writer, playwright, and screenwriter.

One day at a publisher’s convention, where I was trying to persuade attendees to consider my children’s book—never published—a publisher took an interest in my writing, particularly my humor pieces. He said he was looking for someone to write original jokes about aging. I sent him a few sample jokes, and, amazingly, he sent me a contract for a book that became What You Don’t Know About Turning 50. It sold well. A few years later I was asked to produce a sequel on turning 60. I also started selling gags to syndicated cartoonists.

At some point I realized that if I could combine my knack for writing jokes with my own drawings, I could become a cartoonist. However, my drawing skills hadn’t improved much since childhood, so I had to brush up on that, so to speak. To my surprise, major publications, including The Wall Street Journal, began buying my cartoons. That encouraged me to work harder—all while putting in at least 50 hours a week at the law office and trying to be an attentive husband and father. Several more years passed before I left my law practice for a career in cartooning. I never looked back.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’m a freelance cartoonist. Unlike a syndicated cartoonist, I don’t have steady work. On the other hand I have a great deal of flexibility, working when I want to–which is pretty much every day–and I’m at liberty to submit my work to dozens of publications. I love being self-employed, even though my “boss” can be demanding.

Each cartoon is a one-off, meaning I don’t have continuing characters. The gags–that is, the ideas for the cartoons–come to me spontaneously, and often when I’m strolling the neighborhood, not thinking about anything in particular. My cartoons have a point of view, my own twisted way at looking at the world. My humor seems to translate across the Atlantic, based on the number of British magazines that have published my cartoons.

Cartooning has led me to related endeavors: greeting cards, corporate ad campaigns, a blog, a writing gig for CartoonStock, short humor pieces, and, in July of this year, the publication of Funny Stuff: How Great Cartoonists Make Great Cartoons, a book I wrote with my writing partner, Rex Hesner, with a foreword by Bob Mankoff, the esteemed former cartoon editor at the New Yorker magazine. Here a link to the book: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/funny-stuff-philip-witte/1144324877?ean=9781633889804

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Without trying to sound like a motivational speaker, here are a few thoughts about the journey to success, however success is defined:

Persistence plays a crucial role in success. Don’t give up easily, but also know when to take a different approach.

Being open to opportunities makes them happen.

Be curious about lots of things. Learn from books, people, and experiences. Knowledge shapes who you are and is vital to your life’s work.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?
The person who gave me the confidence to pursue cartooning was Phil Frank, the late cartoonist for The San Francisco Chronicle. I contacted him and told him I wanted to be a cartoonist. Even though he didn’t know me, he invited me to home studio, as well as his houseboat on the S.F. Bay, and spent the afternoon with me. I showed him my drawings–not yet professional quality–and he redrew them and gave them life. He told me my gags were solid, but my artwork needed improvement. At his suggestion, I took life drawing classes, which helped.

If he had told me to stick with law, I probably would have taken his advice. After all, he was a pro.

I was lucky to find a mentor who offered encouragement. Even though our time together was only a single afternoon, it had a profound effect on me.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Photo credit for my portrait: Rob Yelland Photo credit (2 photos) of me teaching a class at the San Francisco Cartoon Art Museum: Mark Youakim

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