You may well have heard of Extreme Ironing, the adventure “sport”, where advocates try to combine their zest for action along with a nicely-pressed shirt.
I don’t know whether anyone has yet tried “Extreme Sketching”, but there’s not need to head to exotic locales or to risk life and limb when it comes to drawing backgrounds. In fact, you may not even have to add too much detail at all to set the scene for your cartoon.
Here’s what we’re going to cover:
The minimal detail possible
Think symbols and caricatures rather than exact images
Using photos
The Minimum Detail Possible
You don’t need to have great technical drawing skills to create backgrounds. All you have to do is to convey to your reader the minimum of detail required to set the scene.
So instead of spending time creating a row of buildings, all you have to do is to give the impression of a row of buildings.
If you do want to add more detail, then you could add the hint of details, or some colour to give more of a sense of depth.
Think Symbols And Caricatures Rather Than Exact Images
We all have various symbols in our heads that we associate with different places and meanings. So instead of daring a bank, you could just draw a simple building with a dollar sign on it.
The same goes for a hospital, just add a Red Cross.
Using Photos
One quick trick you could try is to use your own photos as backgrounds. Here’s a random one I took while on a trip to Sweden.
Back to the ironing board…
Time to put down the pen for a while, and iron a shirt for tomorrow. I wonder where might be a good location to do so…
Here’s what we covered:
The minimal detail required
Think symbols and stereotypes rather than exact images
Using photos
What’s next:
I put out a Daily Cartoon Newsletter which features occasional cartooning tips and lots of odd characters. Enter your detail in the orange box below, and I’ll wing a copy your way.