Sarasota Arts & Culture Magazine - September/October 2007 - (Page 18)

Interview : : MICHAEL WHITE Interview with Sarasota is about to be “stripped”—cartoonist Michael White is about to release his comic strip highlighting our beloved town with all of it’s quirks. “What’s the use of living in a town if you can’t make fun of it a little bit?” cartoonist Michael White says, in reference to his tribute comic strip to Sarasota. “Don’t get me wrong, I love it here; but I’m a cartoonist, I get paid to make fun of things!” White speaks the truth—some unspeakable magnetic force has kept the illustrator in Sarasota after attending the formerly named Ringling School of Art and Design, despite the ventures of life’s playful game. “I had to get scholarships from the local artist guild in South Carolina and student loans, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to stay at Ringling. I soaked up everything I could; I was hungry for it,” he says. “The camaraderie of the other students and teachers and the exposure to professionals and art history is something you can’t get anywhere else.” A typical day for the ambitious artist would begin in the then-fledgling computer lab, an art history class—taken twice just for the sheer love of it, a slew of illustration classes, painting landscapes for personal pleasure, a casual meeting of the comic book club he founded, then home to watch an art movie. “I lived the art life, and it was wonderful,” he says. “To survive, I ate Ramen noodles, stole tangerines from trees and rode a bicycle. I was poor, but I was totally rich in my life.” Now to pay homage to his beloved Sarasota, White has concocted two illustrative projects. The first is a caricature collection of people in town, “who I think make Sarasota, Sarasota. I didn’t realize I was doing it over the years, but I think it’s a nice thing to release,” he says. Everyone from White’s favorite bartenders, to politically-inclined people, to community-changing individuals, to the homeless guy who sticks out to him is featured. “I like to hang out at O’Leary’s,” he says. “There’s a plethora of people down there to capture. Like Steve. He’s like Popeye, with his boat out on the bay, governing over everyone else’s boats to make sure everything’s okay. He looks like a sailor; like an old salty dog.” Another personal favorite is former Ringling President Dr. Christ-Janer, who helped evolve the school into its present glory. “I’m calling the collection ‘S People’,” he says. The other project just needs an excuse. “This issue might be a good excuse to debut this comic strip,” White laughs. “There’s no other reason to do it unless it’s published in a local paper or magazine.” The concept is a set of revolving characters that are Sarasota-related, and placed in a reality television show setting. “There’s Mosquito Bandito, a red tide fish named Red, a manatee called Manuel, a pelican, Paul the Palmetto Bug, one homeless guy, some local politicians, and of course, Lovey the Lovebug,” he says. “It’s MTV Real World crossed with Survivor. The point is the 18 : : arts and culture magazine

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Sarasota Arts & Culture Magazine - September/October 2007

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