Combining Ideas To Create Cartoon Gags

Idea for Dog + Cookie

Idea for Dog + Cookie

A while ago I was involved in a cartoon idea generating challenge.

Myself and the other participant each at a topic that we wanted to produce ideas about. In my cases it was dogs; in his, houses.

We each used our topic as a base element to which we added a different element to every day.

Here is the list of daily elements.

1. Office
2. Rain
3. Glasses
4. Smartphone
5. Window
6. Umbrella
7. Water
8. Backpack
9. Surfing
10. Mountain
11. Jungle
12. Tornado
13. wood chipper
14. cookies
15. beach
16. Sea Urchin
17. Lady Bug
18. Cactus
19. Haircut
20. Ghost

Every day we had to combine the base and daily element and think of some ideas to go with that combination. So in the case of #1 above, it would be Dogs + Office.

Thanks to David Green for joining in the challenge.

Here are a few of the cartoons that I came up. The main point was to generate lots of ideas, rather than to produce many polished cartoons.

Dogs + Window

IMG_7205.png

The two ideas for ‘Window’ here, along with most of the other ones below, were drawn with a 6b pencil in Procreate, and then the washes applied with the watercolour tool.

IMG_7206.png

Dogs + Surfing

IMG_7405.png

Living in Japan, it made feel that it was an ideal opportunity to include Hokusai’s Great Wave, along with a Japanese Shiba-Inu.

IMG_7406.png

Dogs + Jungle

IMG_7505.png

I could have come up with a load more ideas for jungle. It of course gave me a chance to draw a couple of anacondas, which are always fun to doodle.

IMG_7506.png
IMG_7507.png

Dogs + Sea Urchin

IMG_9937.png

‘Sea Urchin’ at first glance was one of the more challenging ones to work with. Recently I’ve been watching some YouTube videos of pool dippers who wait for the tide to recede and then go exploring what creatures have been trapped in the rock pools by the retreating pool. That gave me the idea of having a Spaniel, usually my go-to breed when I want a dog doing something daft, inadvertently squatted on an urchin. Yowl!

IMG_8202.png

I couldn’t resist doing a colour version.

Over to you:

Time for you to give this a try!

  1. Choose a base element, something you regularly draw or a new topic you want to explore.

  2. Now write a bunch of different topics, anything will do. Don’t stop to think about these for too long, just jot down whatever comes immedialtely to mind.

  3. Everyday choose a new topic and add it to your base element. Doodle a couple of ideas. Remember that this isn’t about creating perfect or polished cartoons - it’s about generating lots of ideas for cartoons.

Have fun!

Interested In Drawing Cartoon Dogs?

Click the button below, send me a mail, and type “Woof!” In the subject line. I’ll send you details about the Cartooning Canines - How To Draw Cartoon Dogs Course.

Rob Middleton