Have you wondered why I volunteered to draw 31 cartoons (caricatures) for my Cartoon-a-Thon’s Mental Health Awareness Month Project??  Someone questioned me the other day as to why I volunteer so “little” time toward mental health advocacy.  Implying drawing these cartoons and caricatures could never match her 3 hours a week of volunteering at a local mental health service (names withheld to protect the uninformed).

I’m not on SSI and have to work even when I’m symptomatic! I have to push through the depression or mania to make sure my wife and 4 children have food and we have a roof over our heads.  Sometimes, it does not always work out so smoothly! For example, my cartoon below, reflects what a few of my mental health movements consisted of… Me moving!!

I’m not a cartoonist by profession. I have never sold any of my work and 99% of the time, I give it away to my fellow peers. I have made a few dollars because of the cartoons, but that just barely covers the cost of the websites and internet service… If I was in it for the money, I would have went belly up years ago.  Maybe someday,  someone reading this might say, ‘hey you should write a book with your cartoons here is $50.000.00 – go do it’… hint, hint any takers?  No, oh well, I had to ask!

Please know, the “real” reason the Mental Health Humor Cartoons have been a success is they work!  They add a “little” humor to people like me who have to live with serious and debilitating mental disorders.

How Much Time does it REALLY take to draw a few cartoons?

How much time does it take to draw a cartoon? Saturday, I drew & inked six Heroes: 10 hours. Sunday, I scanned the black & white images then prepped &  finished all six. I even colored four of them: 6 hrs.  Today, I’ve been up since 7a.m. building the web page for six heroes: 3.5 hours. I have to write a post for all six heroes: 4.5 more hours. Total of 24 volunteer hours!… Getting a comment of encouragement from you…PRICELESS!!!

I will draw 31 caricatures this month and when you include the 30 other caricatures and 250 cartoons I’ve done, and estimate it takes a minimum of one hour to finish each one… well, you can do the the math.  The proof is in… the more then 300,000 visitors last year to my two websites!  I would like to say to my friend who questioned my time drawing cartoons as volunteering… TO GO TO… four hours a week.  And to keep up the GREAT work because every hour counts!! It’s not how much you do, it’s all about just being there TO HELP!!

I’ll be posting the 6 new heroes very soon.

Chato

Would you like to know more about Chato B . Stewart?

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    Last reviewed: 17 May 2010