Have you ever heard of Hugh MacLeod?

Maybe so, maybe not. He’s a self-consciously edgy cartoonist based in Alpine, Texas. Some of his individual pieces are brilliant, but the brash tone smacks a bit of the Social Media 1.0 years of the mid-2000s when MacLeod made his chops.

Nevertheless, he's well-connected in social media circles to the extent those circles are still relevant. He uses his influence to sell a brand of South African wine in the U.S.

I interviewed him several years ago and read him religiously for awhile, though not as often now. I have the feeling about his work, "I get it
already." But I link to him on this blog, because, I guess, I think other people will find MacLeod funny, as I have.

But to read his Facebook posts, you’d think he was Michelangelo—nay, Moses. In one afternoon last week on Facebook, MacLeod blathered:

I used to worry about my career. Now I just worry about the work.

Weird how [my] book keeps selling and selling, with minimal promotion on my part…

The best way to market your work is to believe in it. I see no contradiction there.

A base function of art is mapping out "The Inner Journey". But who is the map ultimately for? 😉

Most artists hate selling. That's because most artists haven't sold very much.

Marketing art is like making it i.e. There are very few big breakthrough moments. It's mostly just about turning up, every bloody day.

Oh, brother! Just who does he expect is in need of this navigation by longitudes and platitudes?

MacLeod’s posts bring to mind one of his better cartoons: “The price of being a sheep is BOREDOM. The price of being a wolf is LONELINESS. Choose one or the other with great care.”

Hugh, I'm sure you think of yourself as a wolf. But just because we read your cartoons doesn't mean we're sheep.

We know when we're being herded, and we don't like it.