‘Rubes’ artist Leigh Rubin explores creative thinking in new book

Syndicated cartoonist Leigh Rubin explores the creative process in his new book, Think Like a Cartoonist: A Celebration of Humor and Creativity, published by RIT Press.

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RIT Press

Rubin intersperses personal stories with essays from friends and family in Think Like a Cartoonist: A Celebration of Humor and Creativity.

Rubin applies the same flexible thinking to his daily comic, Rubes, as he does to life’s challenges. In Think Like a Cartoonist, Rubin compiles examples of creative problem solving, showing the general benefit of his approach to “connecting the dots,” bending the rules, and asking questions in different ways.

Rubin intersperses personal stories with essays from friends and family that solve problems with imagination and new perspectives. Essays range from deftly handling a hospital’s bureaucratic mistake, navigating a job interview, and diffusing a potentially volatile situation.

“Creativity is imagination put into action,” Rubin writes in the introduction. “Whether it’s quickly handling an unforeseen situation, dreaming up a new piece of art, or applying a skill in an unusual or a different way.”

In 2018, Rubin became the cartoonist-in-residence at Rochester Institute of Technology, where his lectures on creativity have inspired students and faculty.

Copies of Think Like a Cartoonist: A Celebration of Humor and Creativity can be purchased on the RIT Press website.