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My thrilling bio :
I’ve always wanted to become a cartoonist someday when I grow up, and I still hope to do so if and when that day ever comes.  In the meantime I have been honing my skills as best I can.
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  After graduating from college (BYU, class of ’73) I put in hard time as a graphic designer and illustrator at a bunch of different places, mostly publishing companies, ad agencies and as a work-at-home freelancer.  I often used cartoons in my layouts and designs whenever I could get away with it.  After a couple of decades of that nonsense I decided the time had come to try a comic strip.  I was nearing forty and about due for a mid-life crisis, so it was either this or a red Corvette.  As I began to cast about for a cast of characters and a general theme, I decided on a pair of... 
crotchety old grandparents and their family.  That worked out well, because I eventually became a crotchety old grandparent myself, which has made the writing a whole lot easier. I named this couple Earl and Opal Pickles, and used their last name for the working title of the strip.  I figured if I were ever lucky enough to get it syndicated, the people at the syndicate would probably want to come up with a better permanent title for the strip.  To my surprise, they seemed okay with it, so, for better or for worse (hey, now there’s a good name for a strip!), the title “Pickles” stuck, and so it has been called for the past twenty years.  Along the way I have had the support, encouragement, and occasional kick in the keister by my adorable wife, Diana.  We were blessed with seven children, all of them boys, except for five girls.  Providing for their needs has provided the much needed incentive to keep me working hard and has precluded any chance of an early retirement.
A day in the life :

THE CARTOONIST STUDIO: What time do you wake up?
BRIAN CRANE: I'm a fairly early riser. Usually somewhere between 5:30 and 7 a.m.
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TCS: What’s for breakfast?
BC:  Oatmeal with raisins, blueberries and brown sugar.
TCS: What do you do first?  Write?  Draw?  Answer emails?
BC:  Take a nap.  Quite often after eating breakfast and reading the paper, I'll lie down on the sofa in my studio and take a little nap.  It's good being your own boss.  Then if the weather is nice I'll putter around in my garden or take a walk.  After that I'll do miscellaneous busy work like answering emails and fan letters.  As you can probably tell, most of my morning consists of trying to avoid doing any actual work.  Finally around 10:30 or 11 I'll force myself to sit down at my laptop and try some writing.  If nothing creative is forthcoming I'll go out in the garden again or take another walk.  Trying to come up with an idea I'm happy with is like pulling teeth for me.  It's agony.  That's why I put it off.  Usually by about 2 or 3 p.m I'll have an idea that I like enough to go ahead with.  Then I'll sit down and start drawing.  I'm usually finished by 5 or 6.  If I'm behind on deadlines I might work until 8 or 9.
TCS: Describe your method of creating a cartoon.
BC:  Lately I've been using Canson 100 lb. smooth bristol.  I do my roughs with 2B lead in a mechanical pencil.  I ink my drawings with Higgins waterproof India ink.  I use a Speedball B6 nib for lettering and a Hunt 22B nib for drawing.
TCS: Computer Usage?
BC:  After I finish inking my strip I scan it in Photoshop.  I have a guy who colors my Sunday strips for me.
TCS: What’s for lunch?
BC:  If my wife is home she usually fixes something nice for me, like an egg and onion sandwich or maybe a toasted tuna.  If she's not home I may go out to lunch with friends.  If I stay home it's probably going to be peanut butter and jelly.  Yes, I admit.  I am a lazy bum.
TCS: What’s your afternoon schedule?
BC:  I think I already answered that in one of the previous questions.
TCS: Work after dinner?
BC:  Yes, more often than I'd like.  That's the trouble with working at home.  It's always a temptation to sneak back into the studio and fiddle with things a little more.
TCS: Any unusual habits or hobbies--cartoon related or not?
BC:  I'm addicted to the crossword puzzle app on my iPhone.
My stunning studio :
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