Bored Panda got in touch with Leigh Rubin and asked him some questions about his work. We wanted to know how it feels to know that Rubes Cartoons’ entertain thousands of people around the world. The artist said: “It’s a joy to bring a laugh or a smile to so many folks. That may be one of the best parts of the job.”

Asked about his source of inspiration for the cartoons, the artist answered shortly: “Inspiration is all around us if we take the time to look for it. I read practically anything I get my hands on. I believe the rest is from “internal” (inspiration), that is to say, in my head.”

We were wondering, how often Leigh creates his cartoons. The artist told us: “ Daily-Seven days a week. (It’s a good thing there are not more than seven days in a week.)”

Rubin has recently released a book. We asked him to tell us more about this new publication. Leigh shared with us: “The idea for 'Think Like a Cartoonist' began four years ago. I had a meeting the the Director of RIT Press (Rochester Institute of Technology.)

My idea was to write a book that celebrated humor and creativity. The Director suggested that I find a journalist to reach out to an unspecified number of people and have them share their own stories of how they “connected the dots” in a creative way to solve a problem or create a work of art with these two or more unrelated” subjects, or ideas and the result once the ‘dots were connected.’”

The artist continued: “As it turned out, I became that journalist, over the course of the next year I reached to 150 people I knew personally and had them write a story of how they connected the dots.

Not only was it fun to connect with so many people, but their stories were absolutely wonderful- from a rocket scientist, obituary writer, and cardiac nurse to a geologist, artist, and police officer (and many more!) It is simply amazing how creative individuals can be! Each of the stories has a cartoon accompanying their stories. I also wrote a number of the stories.”

Lastly, Rubin added: “The stories are fun funny, and inspirational!”