“Stop that fish!” Came the cries from the group of cricketers running along the riverbank. At first Betty Pilchard was thrown for a loop, until you spotted an unusual looking fish swimming in her direction. She quickly grabbed her landing net and manage to scoop up the fish just as it came up to her. The only thing more surprising than the odd looking fish was the fact that it had a red cricket ball in its mouth.
The cricket ball didn’t stay there for very long, as the fish promptly spat it out, knocking Betty’s hat off for six. The fish then proceeded to leap out of the net, seize the now floating hat, and then swim off rapidly downstream. And that was the last that Betty Pilchard saw of her hat and the ultra-rare Three-Finned Spotted Horace. On the plus side, she had managed to retrieve the ball, and so the cricket match could resume.
What I’m going to cover
In this article I’m going to go through the steps involved in creating the above cartoon. First though I’ll give you a bit of background about the story that the cartoon helped to illustrate.
…but first a little more story…
The Three-Finned Spotted Horace is a really rare fish, that briefly came to national interest in the 1930s due to its intervention in a cricket match. Here’s an extract from the story:
Higglebottom hit a magnificent cover drive and the ball ran along the ground and into the river. Two of the fielders set off to retrieve it, but reached the bank in time to spot a Horace seizing the ball in its mouth and then setting off down stream.
The cricketers followed the fish along the bank and it looked as though the ball would be lost, until they encountered Angler Betty Pilchard was able to temporarily scoop up the fish in her landing net. The Horace spat the ball out, unfortunately knocking her hat off, which was the grabbed by the fish never to be see again. Pilchard returned to the river many times in an attempt to catch the fish, but the Horace remained elusive, as it does generally until this day.
So now let’s have a look at the process of creating the cartoon
Initial outline
I sketched out the characters using a 6B pencil in ProCreate.
Adding the background
I wanted to keep the background relatively simple, so I added enough detail to give the impression of the riverbank and accompanying countryside.
Adding washes to the character
As the story was set in the 1930s and I wanted a retro feel to it, I thought I’d stick to monochrome for the cartoon.
Adding washes to the background
All of the washes I added using the watercolour brush in Procreate. I selected black and then started at 20% opacity, gradually building up the tones.
Adding the riverbed
Again I wanted to stick to a minimum of detail to convey the riverbed.
Adding more detail
I added a little more detail to the background and also a few ripples to show the water.
The finished cartoon
To make the cartoon bolder, I duplicated all the layers, two or three times before I got the intensity I was looking for. Finally, I resized it slightly, and then added the caption.
What’s Next?
I drew some of the above cartoon during Cartoon Hour.
What’s Cartoon Hour?
Basically, it’s an hour where everyone meets on Zoom and draws at the same time (me too!). Folks can choose what they want to draw, and if they’re stuck for ideas, then I’m happy to help with some suggestions.
At the end of the hour we show each other what we’ve drawn. I’ll be imparting a few cartooning tips as well.It’s a good way to get some cartooning done and also to share with fellow doodlers.If you’d like to receive more details on Cartoon Hour, simply add your name, best email address, and type “Yes!” In the message below.
