Johnny Hart on his first art job

MARSCHALL: How early did you want to draw? Did your dad encourage that?
HART: Yeah, he always encouraged that. His way of doing that was to not mess with it. I found out at one point that everything I wanted to do just involved drawing. He was always saying, "When are you going to get a job?"

...

There was a guy in town, Tom Lawless, who did sign painting and window-dressing displays. And I thought, I'm going to ask him for a job even if I have to offer to work for him for nothing. So I could learn. This guy was fantastic. I figured my dad would go along with me, even working for nothing, if I was learning art. It's funny how God works... I never was the sign painter that he was. He was offered a job by Lord & Taylor, he had a great style for sign painting. He was really class. And window displays: he just knew how to drape everything, use colors, you know; he was a genius. Anyway, I wanted to see him and I asked how do you get up to this place? I was told, There's a door and some back stairs and you go up into the hallway. So I went up the back stairs and I come into this little office and there's this guy siting there... and it's Brant Parker. MARSCHALL: Is that right?
HART: Brant said he was leaving there, but anyway the guy I was looking for was Tom Lawless. I said I’d be willing to work for nothing, if he could teach me sign painting and all the stuff. And he said, "Well, I could use somebody like that." He took me on and he started me out at S45 a week -- a nice little jump from $20! But before that -ー and that's what I was leading up to -ー before that I knew that everything was cool with my dad, because I went to him personally and said, "Dad, I see an opportunity to get into the art field."