Part I
Drawing Inspiration: Getting Started with Cartoons and Comics
In this part . . .
Are you a budding cartoonist, or would you like to be a professional cartoonist someday? The world of cartooning is more diverse and interesting than you may realize. In this part, I explore the world of cartooning, including the different types of cartoons and the tools you need to draw them. I also give you tips on how cartoonists come up with their ideas, and I help you find humor in everyday life. After you know where to look, youâll have more ideas than youâll ever be able to use.
Chapter 1
The Skinny on Cartoons and Comics
In This Chapter
Exploring the various cartooning genres
Understanding some drawing basics
Considering the future of cartooning
So you want to be a cartoonist? Or maybe you already consider yourself a cartoonist â and a darn good one â but you donât have the slightest idea how to market your work. Or perhaps you just enjoy drawing and youâd like to become better at it.
If you want to draw cartoons, youâre not alone. Right about now, thousands of budding cartoonists are doodling on any scrap of paper they can find, dreaming of breaking into the cartooning business someday. And whoâs to say you wonât be the next Charles Schulz or create the next Garfield? One thingâs for certain: If youâre a cartoonist with something to say and you get your point across well, you can â thanks to the Internet â be published anytime and anywhere, even if itâs just on your own Web site or blog.
Many people draw well, but they arenât sure how to adapt their drawings for the cartoon or comics market. Others have new ideas, but they draw somewhat crudely and need help pulling a cartoon together. Whether youâre brand new to cartooning and want to experiment with different characters and settings to create your first strip, or youâve been drawing for quite a while and want some helpful advice to improve your characters, youâre probably looking for someone to give you a few pointers. Youâve come to the right place.
This chapter serves as your jumping-off point into the world of cartooning. Here I give you an overview of cartooning and the different cartooning genres that I cover in this book, I show you how to master the drawing basics, and I discuss how cartoons are marketed and how those markets are evolving. If youâve always wanted to be a cartoonist, this chapter gives you the skinny.
Understanding the Different Genres
To be a cartoonist, you need a firm grasp of the different types of cartoons and comics in todayâs market. I discuss several in this book. Some categories that were once popular now face challenges with the ever-changing market, especially traditional comic strips and editorial cartoons that are married to newsprint.
However, other forms of cartooning that were once off the beaten track have exploded in popularity; they include webcomics, editorial cartoons on the Internet, graphic novels, and comic books. The traditional markets are changing, and the new markets provide an exciting opportunity for cartoonists to get in on the ground floor of cartooningâs future.
If you love to draw cartoons and are thinking about trying to become a professional cartoonist, study the categories in the sections that follow and the details about each. Do you have to stick to just one genre? No, but many cartoonists do, which helps their work become identifiable. Check out Chapter 2 for more on different genres and how to work within them. No matter what type of cartooning you may be interested in, it all begins with the basics of drawing and character development. Great ideas and great character development are what make animation in all its forms continue to be popular (refer to Chapter 4 for drawing basics).
Following familiar characters: Comic strips
When you think of cartooning, comic strips may be the first thing that pops into your mind. Comic strips are basically a satirical look into the lives of the characters that inhabit them. Comic strips often reflect the subtle truths about our own lives in their observations and insights into the world around us. Comic strips have the longest continuing run of popularity among cartooning genres, largely because people like to follow their favorite characters. This genre historically has been a staple and popular feature in newspapers. As newspapers face market challenges and try to adapt and evolve, popular Web-based comic strips have popped up all over the Internet.
Modern comic strips were first created at the turn of the 20th century as a way to attract readers to newspapers. Comic strips appeared on the scene long before other forms of entertainment media â like radio, movies, and TV â became popular.
Expressing a viewpoint: Editorial cartoons
Editorial cartoons are a popular and sometimes very controversial form of cartooning. Editorial cartoons are simply cartoons written to express a political or social viewpoint. They also first appeared on the scene about the same time as the modern newspaper gained widespread popularity.
Early newspaper publishers used editorial cartoons the same way they used comic strips â to attract readers. Editorial cartoonists in the early part of the 20th century were the media celebrities of their day. Their cartoons preceded TV by several decades and were a source of information and entertainment for readers. Editorial cartoons of that era were very influential, even influencing political elections and reforms. From Thomas Nast and his exposure of corruption in the underbelly world of New York politics to the Washington Postâs Herbert Block (better known as Herblock) landing on Nixonâs enemiesâ list during the Watergate scandal â and up to the scathing criticisms of the war in Iraq â editorial cartoons have played and continue to play an important role in the annals of political discourse.
Editorial cartoons have evolved over the last century and remain very popular today. However, market realities are challenging for new editorial cartoonists. The profession has traditionally been tied to print journalism, and in the past few years, newspapers have had massive layoffs and cutbacks. But like comic strips, editorial cartoons are thriving on the Internet, and unlike their print counterparts, the Web versions are done in full color, and some are even animated. Check out Chapter 11 for more info on editorial cartoons.
Delivering the punch line: Gag cartoons
Gag cartoons are another popular category. Gag cartoons may look similar to comic strips, but in fact theyâre quite different. Unlike comic strips, most gag strips donât have a regular set of characters or story lines, and theyâre usually single-paneled. Each new cartoon is a brand new gag or visual punch line delivered in a single frame or box.
Despite not having regular characters, gag cartoons do have advantages over comic strips. One main advantage is that theyâre marketable to publications and Web sites that want a lighthearted, joke-of-the-day feature that a strip with characters may not fulfill. Gag cartoons tend to be more generic and better suited for these markets. One of the most well-known gag cartoons, The Far Side, set the bar high for the genre, and the next-generation successor to Far Side creator Gary Larson has yet to surface, so get busy, before someone else beats you to it!
