Drawing Cartoons For Those Who Can’t Draw

A lot of folks think that they can’t draw and so they are hesitant to try even simple drawings on the whiteboard or on slides for fear of looking foolish. Some people think that if they can’t produce cool, stylish drawings then it’s not worth bothering with. However, what they sometimes forget is that the most important thing is to get a point across - and not to dazzle people with your artwork.

This post will show you that there is nothing to be afraid of and that it’s simpler than it looks. By the end of this article you will have a range of practical techniques to produce some very simple drawings of people.

It's not about drawing accurately but about getting a point across.

You don't have to draw this to represent a cat. Pointy ears and whiskers will get the idea across.

In fact, trying to do more complex drawings can be counterproductive as it can break the flow of the lesson or presentation as the more complex the drawing the longer it takes, and also the more complex the drawing, the more there is to go wrong.

One thing that stops people from to draw at all is the fact that they can’t draw as well as other people or an illustration that they’ve seen.

Keep it simple

Even drawing stick figures be be tricky, try using blogs instead.

Are these drawings crude? Sure. Are they laughable? Maybe...but again the key point is to get an idea across.

Most of the time, you’re just trying to get the point across across that your drawing is a person, and not a cat, or car. Because of this it is usually not necessary to draw ears, arms, or legs. A basic blob has only a head and shoulders:

A blob with squiggles for hair is a woman, smaller blobs are children, a baby can look like this.

A neck, arms and legs can be optional at this point.

Adding personality to blobs

Even simple blobs can easily be given a lot of personality

Use Props and details to convey meaning

#5. emotions connect people. If you can, learn to draw a few basic emotions like the ones above.

It is best if you figure out how to represent emotions rather than merely copy them. That way you'll have more of an emotional connection to them.

Body sensations.

Similarly to emotions, it's good to learn a few basic ones.

Actions

Drawing actions can be tricky. Instead, draw objects to represent actions. A knife, for example, depicts the verb cut:

An apple going into a blob’s mouth is eat:

Use colours and words to help.

If you use the same actions often your students will pick up the vocabulary of your drawing.

Buildings

Use a simple shape to represent a building. Once you decide on the shape, stick to the same one for subsequent buildings.

Put a dollar sign in the building, and it is a bank; put a shopping cart in it, and it is a supermarket:

Props and vehicles

This same idea can be applied to vehicles. Don't forget to use a splash of colour to get the meaning across.

Try to anticipate very popular props and how to draw them.

This is the first part of ‘Drawing Cartoons For Those Who Can’t Draw’ - Part II to come soon.

Creating Contrast in Cartoons

Today I’m going to talk about using contrast to produce striking cartoons. As well as this, I’ll talk through the different steps in creating a recent cartoon.

Above is the completed cartoon as it finally appeared. This one was produced as part of a ‘word of the day’ challenge that I took part in on a cartoon forum.

Here is the initial outline. I used a couple of different reference photos, one of a Tiger Moth biplane, which was used to train RAF fighter pilots in the 1930s and 1940s, and the other photo of a fleet of Battleships at sea.

I thought it would make for a striking image to have the plane bisecting the column of ships.

Here I’m preparing to colour the sea. I’ve created a palette of sea tones on a separate layer. At apply the tones I’m going to use a digital watercolour brush in procreate.

Next I’m going to colour the biplane, I’ve created a new palette choosing bright colours to contrast against the sea. I also wanted the pink and yellow to contrast with each other for extra effect.

The colours are now all in place. Next I’m going to add some shading and hatching to add more form to the biplane.

Aaa

And here is the completed cartoon again. For an even stronger contrast I could make the sea a lot darker which would really help the brightly coloured airplane to stand out.

Illustrated Booknotes - The Artist’s Way

Every month I put together a series of Illustrated Booknotes as part of a book circle I’m a member of. I usually choose five or six key points to illustrate. Below I’ve also included theothernotes I note when reading the book.

Nothing dies harder than a bad idea

The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel. - Piet Mondrian

*what if I was a channel for all of my life? Get out of the way. If I don’t claim ownership for cartoon ideas, then why not apply this to other areas

Get out of the way, let it work through you

God must become an activity in our consciousness. - Joel S. Goldsmith

Leap, and the net will appear.

BASIC PRINCIPLES

Make this a rule: always remember that your Censor’s negative opinions are not the truth.

Anger is meant to be acted upon. It is not meant to be acted out. Anger points the direction. We are meant to use anger as fuel to take the actions we need to move where our anger points us. With a little thought, we can usually translate the message that our anger is sending us.

Make your own recovery the first priority in your life. ROBIN Norwood

Undoubtedly, we become what we envisage. CLAUDE M. BRISTOL

Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose. ELISABETH KÜBLER-ROSS

Anyone honest will tell you that possibility is far more frightening than impossibility, that freedom is far more terrifying than any prison. If we do, in fact, have to deal with a force beyond ourselves that involves itself in our lives, then we may have to move into action on those previously impossible dreams.

Life is what we make of it. Whether we conceive of an inner god force or an other, outer God, doesn’t matter. Relying on that force does.

“Ask and you shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened to you….” These words are among the more unpleasant ones ascribed to Jesus Christ. They suggest the possibility of scientific method: ask (experiment) and see what happens (record the results). Is it any wonder we discount answered prayers? We call it coincidence. We call it luck. We call it anything but what it is—the hand of God, or good, activated by our own hand when we act in behalf of our truest dreams, when we commit to our own soul.

When we answer that call, when we commit to it, we set in motion the principle that C. G. Jung dubbed synchronicity, loosely defined as a fortuitous intermeshing of events. Back in the sixties, we called it serendipity. Whatever you choose to call it, once you begin your creative recovery you may be startled to find it cropping up everywhere.

Following his own inner leadings brought him to experience and describe a phenomenon that some of us prefer to ignore: the possibility of an intelligent and responsive universe, acting and reacting in our interests.

We like to pretend it is hard to follow our heart’s dreams. The truth is, it is difficult to avoid walking through the many doors that will open. Turn aside your dream and it will come back to you again. Get willing to follow it again and a second mysterious door will swing open.

STELLA TERRILL MANN The universe is prodigal in its support. We are miserly in what we accept. All gift horses are looked in the mouth and usually returned to sender. We say we are scared by failure, but what frightens us more is the possibility of success.

In his book, The Scottish Himalayan Expedition, W. H. Murray tells us his explorer’s experience:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative [or creation] there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would otherwise never have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man would have believed would have come his way.

If you do not trust Murray—or me—you might want to trust Goethe. Statesman, scholar, artist, man of the world. Goethe had this to say on the will of Providence assisting our efforts: Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it. Action has magic, grace, and power in it. Goethe

Stop thinking and talking about it and there

is nothing you will not be able to know. ZEN PARADIGM

It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. SENECA

We must learn to let the flow manifest itself where it will—not where we will it.

Look and you will find it—what is unsought will go undetected. SOPHOCLES

“Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all things will be added to it,”

What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us. We will continue to work this week with our ideas surrounding money. We will see how our ideas about money (“ It’s hard to get. You have to work long hours for it. You need to worry about money first and creativity second”) shape our ideas about creativity.

Learn to accept the possibility that the universe is helping you with what you are doing.

Man can learn nothing except by going from the known to the unknown. CLAUDE BERNARD

Every loss must always be viewed as a potential gain; it’s all in the framing. Every end is a beginning.

Satisfaction of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life. LINUS PAULING QUESTION: Do you know how old I’ll be by the time I learn to play the piano? ANSWER: The same age you will be if you don’t. “I’m too old for that” ranks with “I don’t have money for it” as a Great Block Lie we use to prevent further exploration. “I’m too old” is something we tell ourselves to save ourselves from the emotional cost of the ego deflation involved in being a beginner.

“I’m too old” is an evasive tactic. It is always used to avoid facing fear.

.

Creative people are dramatic, and we use negative drama to scare ourselves out of our creativity with this notion of wholesale and often destructive change. Fantasizing about pursuing our art full-time, we fail to pursue it part-time—or at all.

Indulging ourselves in a frantic fantasy of what our life would look like if we were real artists, we fail to see the many small creative changes that we could make at this very moment. This kind of look-at-the-big-picture thinking ignores the fact that a creative life is grounded on many, many small steps and very, very few large leaps. Rather than take a scary baby step toward our dreams, we rush to the edge of the cliff and then stand there, quaking, saying, “I can’t leap. leant. I can’t….”

Take one small daily action instead of indulging in the big questions. When we allow ourselves to wallow in the big questions, we fail to find the small answers.

Do not call the inability to start laziness. Call it fear.

The need to be a great artist makes it hard to be an artist. The need to produce a great work of art makes it hard to produce any art at all.

We usually commit creative hara-kiri either on the eve of or in the wake of a first creative victory. The glare of success (a poem, an acting job, a song, a short story, a film, or any success) can send the recovering artist scurrying back into the cave of self-defeat. We’re more comfortable being a victim of artist’s block than risking having to consistently be productive and healthy.

Be really whole And all things will come to you. LAO-TZU

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. ALBERT EINSTEIN

Anxiety is fuel. We can use it to write with, paint with, work with.

Sell your cleverness and buy bewilderment. JALAL UD-DIN RUMI

He who knows others is wise; he who knows himself is enlightened. LAO-TZU

I will tell you what I have learned myself. For me, a long five or six mile walk helps. And one must go alone and every day. BRENDA UELAND

It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. SOMERSET MAUGHAM

If I sabotage my artist, I can well expect an eating binge, a sex binge, a temper binge. Check the relationship between these behaviors for yourself. When we are not creating, artists are not always very normal or very nice—to ourselves or to others.

If you are happier writing than not writing, painting than not painting, singing than not singing, acting than not acting, directing than not directing, for God’s sake (and I mean that literally) let yourself do it.

As artists, we are spiritual sharks. The ruthless truth is that if we don’t keep moving, we sink to the bottom and die. The choice is very simple: we can insist on resting on our laurels, or we can begin anew. The stringent requirement of a sustained creative life is the humility to start again, to begin anew.

You are lost the instant you know what the result will be. JUAN GRIS

The goal is to connect to a world outside of us, to lose the obsessive self-focus of self-exploration and, simply, explore. One quickly notes that when the mind is focused on other, the self often comes into a far more accurate focus.

survival lies in sanity, and sanity lies in paying attention.

My grandmother knew what a painful life had taught her: success or failure, the truth of a life really has little to do with its quality. The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention.

More than anything else, attention is an act of connection.

The poet William Meredith has observed that the worst that can be said of a man is that “he did not pay attention.”

Sloth, apathy, and despair are the enemy. Anger is not. Anger is our friend. Not a nice friend. Not a gentle friend. But a very, very loyal friend. It will always tell us when we have been betrayed. It will always tell us when we have betrayed ourselves. It will always tell us that it is time to act in our own best interests. Anger is not the action itself. It is action’s invitation.

Answered prayers are scary. They imply responsibility. You asked for it. Now that you’ve got it, what are you going to do? Why else the cautionary phrase “Watch out for what you pray for; you just might get it”? Answered prayers deliver us back to our own hand. This is not comfortable. We find it easier to accept them as examples of synchronicity:

The universe will reward you for taking risks on its behalf. SHAKTI GAWAIN

Cartoon Guide To Golden Retrievers

The lovable and energetic Golden Retriever is one of the world’s most popular dog breeds, featuring in the top ten breed lists in North America, the UK, Australia, and probably even some countries you’d struggle to place on the map.

Hello Stranger!

Golden Retrievers have many fine qualities, however they don’t make the best of watchdogs due to their gentle nature and general trusting. Intruders are liable to be licked to death!

Great Focus

Golden Retrievers have great focus, something which their owners sometimes lack. The reason for the Golden’s ability to focus so well is due to their heritage of being hunting dogs and thus able to concentrate for long periods of time. A further reason, as speculated by Professor Eugene Quince of the university of Eastern Gringeville, is that as they lack opposable thumbs they are unable to easily grasp and operate a smartphone and thus aren’t distracted by the devices.

Due to their nature as hunting dogs, Goldens have a great ability to sit patiently and focus for long periods of time. One dog, ‘Gertie’, even took place in the opening round of the 1957 British open chess championship, where she was holding her own against Strangspelski, until he finally managed to distract her using a duck he had smuggled into the tournament.

Goldens are mouthy and are happy when they have something to carry in their mouths. In 1949, ‘Bob’ carried an egg for a record distance of 234 miles, unfortunately by the time he had reached his destination the egg had gone off and thus the full English breakfast that his owner was planning was spoiled.

Grooming

Of course the owner doesn’t always appreciate their pets love of the water, especially if the dog wants to give them a reminder of where they’ve just been.

Due to to their water-loving nature, Golden Retrievers may get much joy out of bath time...not so much the owner if they are trying to get their dog back into smart shape after a dip into a particularly grotty pond.

Goldens shed, particularly in the spring and autumn. If you are going to keep a Golden you have to able able to get used to dog hair. Edna Potts managed to knit a sweater out of the hair shed by her dog, ‘Sydney’.

The Outdoor Life

A Golden could make the perfect pet for someone who is into an outdoor lifestyle.

Goldens are an ideal size to scramble in and out of boats. What better than a trip on the water? Plenty of opportunities to jump into it!

Goldens love the water and are great swimmers. In 1961,  Emilia Kerbstone was accompanied by his dog, ‘Bessie’, as she swam across the English Channel. She wasn’t intending to take Bessie with him, but in his preparations swim to France he had forgotten to take her for her morning walk. She paddled behind her for the entire swim carrying her lead in her mouth. When they got to France she was still perfectly willing to go for walkies, however, Emily at this point was completely knackered and unable to oblige.

Niv Ratel came up with the idea of water chariot racing, utilizing a small dinghy towed by his two Retrievers Benjy and Bongo. He was three times consecutive world champion from 1972 - 1974. He was the only one who entered.

Born To Retrieve!

Golden Retrievers are still highly regarded as working dogs. This one however looks like some sort of endangered species....best not to report it...

True to their name, Golden Retrievers are happy to retrieve pretty much anything…even things that don’t need retrieving…

Stay Agile!

The breed thrives on agility tests, especially when there is some sort of novelty involved. 

A Helping Paw

Due to their high intelligence and calm temperamental,  Goldens make ideal service dogs, as either guide or assistance dogs. Some particularly smart dog, Trick, was even able to make ATM withdrawals on behalf of his owner. Not only that, but was also able to use his ‘nose’ for business by getting in early when the price of dog biscuits crashed.

Keep ‘Em Busy!

Goldens need a lot of exercise and are definitely not happy to spend long periods of time being cooped up inside.

Keeping a Golden is usually a guarantee of getting a lot of exercise…though sometimes it might  prove to be a little difficult to keep up with the dog.

Remember, a tired Golden is a well-behaved Golden…mind you they may take some tiring out.

One Of The Family

Great with kids and  families, Goldens are happy to join in games with all members of the family, big and small.

Golden Retriever puppies are of course unbelievably cute, but even so the ratio of cute Golden puppy pictures to cute cat pictures is something like 1 to 136,000. (Statistic provided by the Cat fanciers club of Belgium.)

Related breeds include the Golden Slumberer, a most remarkably inactive breed quite happy to while away the days being bone-idle; and the Golden Sender which was bred by Horace Splod in an attempt to get the dogs to dispose of the ghastly knitted sweaters that he kept receiving every birthday and Christmas from his aunt Ethel.

Using A Picture To Get Ideas

Only in Monaco…

I came across an article about a guy in Monaco who managed to get an old Porsche racing car licensed for the road. I won’t go into the exact shennanigans he had to go through to do so, but he ended up using some obscure loophole.

The Porsche 917 was designed to win the win the Le Mans 24 hour race which it did so, and was never intended to be driven on the road. When I was the above photo, I was really intrigued by the incongruity between the sleek racing machine and the everyday road traffic.

I put the photo in the middle of a blank page and then started brainstorming idea associated with it. I liked the idea of the racing driver having changed careers and it was then the delivery business struck me. I liked the absurdity of the totally impractical racing car being using to cart things around.

Here’s the finished cartoon.

Over To You:

Try this idea-generating technique out with a photo that catches your eye. As you write down possible ideas, don’t pause to think about them - just write whatever pops into your mind. You can even pose some questions about the picture as well, like I did in the above example.

Leading The Viewer’s Eye

In this article I”m going to talk through the steps in creating this cartoon and also show how I used a few devices in the drawing to help lead the viewer’s eye.

Above is the completed cartoon, I’ll now go through all the stages leading up to it.

Here’s the initial sketch. The idea was to have Nessie appearing in the background, with the angler completely oblivious to it.

As you can see, I’ve now coloured in the characters. I used digital water colour for this, and for the background as well.

I’ve now started to add in the background colour.

Adding more tones to the water.

Adding shading and hatching to the characters. I like the ‘double-whammy’ effect of using hatching on top of shading.

Finally, I’ve made some of the outlines a bit bolder.

Now let’s have a look at how I wanted to lead the viewer’s eye towards Nessie.

1. The tree branch points towards Nessie.

2. The ‘V’ of the mountains guides the eye downwards.

3. The red posts on Nessie help to catch attention.

4. The fishing rod and

5. keepnet handle point towards her.

6. The dog’s attention points towards her.

Three Different Dog Walking Poses

Someone paid attention at dog obedience classes.

This article follows on from the previous one on ‘How to draw someone walking a dog’.

You can see in the above image that the dog is walking nicely along at heel, but let’s now look at three other dog-walking poses that can add a bit more variety and action into scenes.

What’s going on over there?

You can see in this one that the dog is now straining on the lead, perhaps wanting to shoot off towards whatever exciting thing is going on ahead, perhaps dragging his owner after him.

You can now see with the help of the red lines how the dog leaning forwards is emphasised - his whole body is urging him in that direction.

Hello!

The nightmare situation for many dog owners - their pet learning up at someone.

Again, the red lines show the motion of the dog, and the woman leaning back trying to counter-act.

In full flight!

A very cartoony pose, this one! The dog is now in hot pursuit of something, and the owner is along for the ride - or should that be flight?

Absolutely everyone in the scene is moving in the same direction.

How To Draw Someone Walking A Dog

“Hmm...this doesn’t quite look right...I got the hang of drawing a walking dog before, but portraying someone walking the dog is proving to be tricky....”

If you’ve read any previous articles, then you may already have encountered Shelley the scribbler and her attempts at cartooning.

Today she was trying to draw someone walking a dog and it wasn’t turning out right.

This follows on from the previous ‘How to draw a walking dog’, if you haven’t read it, you can check it out here. [link]

By the end you will be able to...

By the end of this article you will be able to draw someone walking a dog.

We’re going to do this with the help of Cynthia and Rex the Spaniel.

Introducing Cynthia and Rex the Spaniel

Observe

First of all, before we get started drawing, let’s take a look at how someone actually walks a dog. Of course you could immediately google it, but it’s fun to try and observe in real life first.

If, like myself, you don’t have a dog, then start paying attention to people in your neighborhood as they’re out walking their pooch.

I’ve just realised that I have an ever-so-slight resemblance to Cynthia in this pic...

Just before I started writing this, I went out for a stroll around the neighbourhood. It was raining lightly, so I took an umbrella with. I met a chap out walking a pair of miniature Schnauzers. The dogs were friendly at first, but went I bent over to pat on on the head, it started growling at me. It turned out that the dog didn’t like umbrellas. After the owner had explained that to me, and I had taken down the umbrella, the dog lightened up and we got along.

If there are no dogs being walked nearby or it’s the middle of the night as you read this, or whatever then try a YouTube video, but don’t go shown the YouTube sinkhole of clicking on video after video!

In a previous article, I showed an image showing the stages of how a dog walks. I think it’s worth having another look at it here.

Here’s the image that we’re going to recreate.

We’re now going to look at the elements of the cartoon one-by-one, as it’s easier to draw them separately.

If you are drawing digitally then it’s easy to create different layers for the dog and the walker.

If you are drawing on paper, then you can practice drawing them separately first and then draw them together for the final version. Outline the dog and walker in pencil first, and then erase any overlapping lines.

Let’s start with the dog walker.

You can copy this picture of Cynthia or use another picture of a person walking.

We’re going to follow a three-step process to practice drawing the walker.

1. Trace the picture.

First trace it nice and slowly, pay attention while you are tracing.

Now trace it again, this time do it more quickly.

Trace one last time, doing it as quickly as possible.

2. Copy the picture

Next copy the picture.

Again, start off nice and slowly, take your time.

Now draw it again, this time more quickly.

Draw it one last time.

Draw it one last time, do a lightning sketch.

3. Draw from memory.

Now go and make a cup of tea or coffee.

Now try and draw your walker from memory.

Next draw it again...and again...

Now we’re going to draw the dog using the same three-step process.

Once you have a version of the walker and dog that you are happy with, you can put them together.

Once you have a version of the walker and dog that you are happy with, you can put them together.

Now that you’ve drawn the basic pose you could think about how you can make your dog a bit more cartoony? What features could you exaggerate?

Remember that exaggeration is a key part of achieving a comic effect.

You could also try drawing the same pose again but with some different dog breeds.

Here are a few you can reference.

Note that some of them have shorter legs or different shaped torsos, but the basic idea is the same.

Of course this is a cartoon, so you’re welcome to experiment with a more cartoony, and less realistic feel.

Trick: Build up a library of different poses you can refer to. This is particularly useful if you’ve already started to develop your own style, as the reference pictures will begin your style as opposed to a photo or someone else’s.

Gags

Okay, now we’ve done the basics of someone walking a dog, let’s have some fun thinking up some ideas for cartoons.

Here are some questions to ask:

-The dog and walking nicely along now, but what could interrupt this peaceful scene

-They say that owners start to resemble their pets....what do you think?

-As Rex is a Spaniel, is there any way you could reflect that in Cynthia, for example by changing her hair or her clothes?

How To Draw A Walking Dog

Or from bandy-legged Basset hounds to perfectly pawed pooches.

Shelley was somewhat frustrated. Her dogs weren’t exactly turning out the way that she hoped. She could get the heads and bodies okay, but when she came to draw them walking they didn’t quite turn out right.

Maybe you’ve had similar problems yourself.

Well, today we’re going to look at how to draw a walking dog.

By the end you will be able to...

…draw a variety of different dogs walking in a natural pose.

Observe

You’ll soon realise that dogs have a certain way of walking and what would look unnatural - like this chap here.

First of all, before we get started drawing, let’s take a look at how a dog actually walks. Of course you could immediately google it, but it’s fun to try and observe in real life first.

If you’ve got a dog of your own, then you have plenty of chances to observe how a dog walks.

If, like myself, you don’t have a dog, then start paying attention to people in your neighborhood as they’re out walking their pooch. It’s a good way to get to know people as well, as dog walkers are often a friendly bunch, provided of course that their dog actually likes you.

Now if you can’t do that, then try a YouTube video, but don’t go shown the YouTube sinkhole of clicking on video after video!

The stages of a dog walking

Now let’s have a look at all the stages of how a dog walks.

This old illustration of a Fox Terrier helps tp show how it walks in nine simple diagrams.

Let’s get drawing! First of all, find a picture of a dog you like.

Alternatively, you can use this one.

We’re going to follow the set of three principle.

1. Trace the picture.

First trace it nice and slowly, pay attention while you are tracing.

Now trace it again, this time do it more quickly.

Trace one last time, doing it as quickly as possible.

2. Copy the picture

Next copy the picture.

Again, start off nice and slowly, take your time.

Now draw it again, this time more quickly.

Draw it one last time.

Draw it one last time, do a lightning sketch.

3. Draw from memory.

Now go and make a cup of tea or coffee.

Now try and draw your walking dog from memory.

Next draw it again...and again...

Now how could you make your dog a bit more cartoony? What features could you exaggerate?

Remember that exaggeration is a key part of achieving a comic effect.

Now let’s draw that same pose with some different dog breeds.

Here are a few you can reference.

Note that some of them have shorter legs or different shaped torsos, but the basic idea is the same.

Of course this is a cartoon, so you’re welcome to experiment with a more cartoony, and less realistic feel.

A library of Labs?

As you start to draw dog pics that you are happy with, you can slowly build up a library of different poses you can refer to. I am also a huge fan of recycling previous drawings into new cartoons.

You could build up a reference sheet like the one above.

Gags

Time to think up a few canine cracks or some fido funnies…

Okay, now we’ve done the basics of how to draw a dog walking, let’s have some fun thinking up some ideas for cartoons.

Here are some questions to ask:

-Where is the dog going?

-Where is the owner?

-What might the dog be thinking?

-Could you add a simple background to the scene? If so, what?

-Could you add a bizarre element to the cartoon?

For more dog dotiness, along with a host of other creatures….sign-up for the Cartoon Newsletter below.

Vary Your Diet

Dietary advice for goats? 

Some New Gerald Pics From The Idea-Nator Course

Here are some pics created to illustrate week six of the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’.

Gerald at the Florist

Gerald has snuck Into the florist’s shop again.....but something else is sneaking up on him...

Drawing A Willow Tree

I was recently asked about drawing trees by one of the students on the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’. I’m no expert at drawing trees, but I thought I would break down the process of drawing a willow tree that featured in a cartoon I drew earlier this year. 

I hope this is of use.

Another Mind Map for the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’

Here’s another mind map I came up with to generate some ideas for ‘Rainy Season’. This mind map was part of the materials created for the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’.

Mind Map for the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’

Here’s a quick mind map I out together as part of the materials for the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’. Next week we’re focusing on using mind maps and brainstorming to generate potential ideas for cartoons. 

20 Questions With Randy Glasbergen

I recently came across this interview posted on : 

http://scottnickel.blogspot.com/2009/09/20-questions-with-randy-glasbergen.html

I’m currently running the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’. During the first week the students had to post some of their favourite cartoons, and seeing as Glasbergen featured a few times I thought this might be of interest. 

Glasbergen’s site can be found here: 

 https://www.glasbergen.com/

1. When you were a kid, did you want to be a cartoonist? Did you draw?

When I was a kid, I was always drawing. At first I copied characters from TV (Popeye, Hanna-Barbara and Jay Ward stuff) then I drew lots of Batman and Superman for a while. When I was around 14 (1971), I became more serious about becoming a cartoonist and started writing to my favorite cartoonists for advice and received many great replies. (Many years later, this was the inspiration for my book "How To Be A Successful Cartoonist") I tried gag cartooning around this time and started selling cartoons to many magazines when I was 15 years old, including Saturday Evening Post, Kipplinger's,Changing Times, Sports Afield, Good Housekeeping and Saturday Review. I also had my first children's book (Ickle McNoo) published around this time, copies of which can be found on eBay.

2. What was your first paying cartoon job?

My first published cartoon appeared in the New York State Conservationist magazine at age 14. My first paid cartoon was to Cartoon Carnival magazine for $5. (Trash collector to smirking dog: "Stop calling me a junkie!")

 3. How did you get involved with the syndicated strip, THE BETTER HALF?
In the late 1970's I had a contract with Rupert Murdoch's syndicate (Murdoch News Service) for a panel called HOWIE, which appeared in a number of papers at that time. That syndicate folded and was acquired by The Register & Tribune Syndicate, which was a major syndicate at that time with FAMILY CIRCUS, SPIDER-MAN and other successful strips.

In the early 1980s, when RTS was ready to hire a new cartoonist for THE BETTER HALF, they knew my work well from the HOWIE panel and hired me based on that. I was in my early 20's and had virtually no time to prepare and had to hit the ground running almost immediately.

The early cartoons were awful (in my opinion) but I've gradually evolved TBHalf into something that is uniquely my own, not an imitation of another cartoonist's art or gags.

King Features syndicates THE BETTER HALF now and it's recently begun appearing in a large number of online newspapers where it's often ranked as one of the most popular strips and panels.

4. You’re one of the industry’s most prolific gag cartoonists. What’s your secret?

Ask any active freelancer like Harley Schwadron, Marty Bucella, Rex (Baloo) May or Mark (Andertoons) Anderson, and they'll probably tell you they draw 5-10 cartoons a day. It's not that uncommon. I average 6-8 cartoons a day, 5-6 days a week for a total of 30-45 cartoons per week, some for syndication, some for my website and freelance submissions.

Working at home, I have two flights of stairs for my commute and no coworkers to distract me or waste my time, so staying busy and keeping organized is fairly easy for me.

5. What’s your favorite rejected strip or gag?

If I have a favorite cartoon, I'll publish it on my website.

6. Where do you stand in the print comics vs. web comics debate?

Print or web makes no difference to me. I do both. My web comics eventually become print comics and my print comics usually spend some time on the web. I don't see any great wall between the two.

7. Newspaper comics are considered pretty tame compared to TV and other media. Do you find this limiting or is it a welcome challenge?

This can be frustrating, especially when a word like "damn" would add some needed punch to a gagline. On the other hand, I purposely push the envelope a little bit with THE BETTER HALF with quite a bit of sexy banter between the two, physical affection, intimate talk...but without any of it being crude.

People who are unfamiliar with TBHalf assume it's a LOCKHORNS clone, but nothing could be further from the truth. The Lockhorns seem to despise each other, but THE BETTER HALF characters are as frisky as a couple can be trapped inside depressing middle-aged bodies.

On my website, I will be a bit more liberal with those cartoons, but I'm still careful not to offend anyone. My job is to entertain, not offend. Plus it's harder to sell a cartoon that offends and that is always a major consideration.

 8. Name five of your favorite cartoonists.

Several cartoonists influenced me when I was getting started, among them Sam Gross, Dik Browne, Virgil Partch, Roger Bollen, Bob Weber, Russell Myers Charlie Rodrigues. Most of all, I was influenced by New Yorker cartoonist Henry Martin, not so much by his art but I loved his gags. Anybody who doesn't know his work should check eBay or maybe the archives of The Cartoon Bank online.

9. Should the Lockhorns try open marriage to spice up their relationship?

No comment.

10. How do you develop ideas? Which comes first, words or pictures?

Sometimes I write at the computer, looking at other cartoons or doing some sort of research online to stimulate ideas. For example, if I'm working on dog cartoons I'll Google "dogs" and see what pops up to help me get some ideas. Other times, I'll sit down with a yellow legal pad and a copy of Gag Recap and work until I get about 10 ideas (this usually takes 60-90 minutes). I usually write from 10:00 to 11:30 each morning, sometimes in my studio and other times out on our sunporch during good weather.

11. Do you ever worry about running out of ideas?

How can you run out of ideas? There are 10 billion words in the dictionary and each word can be the basis for a new gag. Cartoons grow from magazine articles, newspaper articles, conversations, observations, the sources are endless.

Each night at dinner I ask my wife, "Did you bring home a good work story?" and that often inspires a gag or two.

When I was starting out, Johnny Hart advised me to "Think Funny" and that may be the best advice I ever got.

 12. What’s more important, raw talent or perseverance?
I don't know.

13. What kind of editor do you prefer, hands-on or laissez-faire?

I don't know. I took Spanish in high school. Ask my wife, she took French.

14. What are your favorite books, TV shows, songs and films? (Yes, that counts as one question.)

This question can probably be answered best by a quick visit to my Facebook or MySpace pages.

I like old Woody Allen movies, Marx Brothers, all of those movies with Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Paker Posey, etc. I like Steve Martin's essays from The New Yorker.

I mostly read biographies and nonfiction books. And I love listening to Tiffany Granath on Sirius radio every afternoon...she always cracks me up, like a female Howard Stern...it's an "adult" program, but it's okay because I'm an adult.

15. What are your tools of the trade?

I work with very simple tools: heavy weight bond typing paper, Flair felt tip pens, a bottle of Liquid Paper and some Sharpies. After I draw my cartoons on a huge oak drawing table, I scan them into Photoshop on my Mac to colorize, digitize, etc. The computer has revolutionized both the art and business of cartooning. At least 95% of my sales come via computer now instead of the old method of putting cartoons in the mail for editors to review.

 16. What’s the best part about being a cartoonist?
I like working in my pajamas half the day. I like having my dogs in the office with me. I enjoy the work and the business. I like interacting with new customers all day on the computer. I like the excitement of making a new sale or landing a cool project. I like the income potential of being a freelancer, not having the limitations of a salary. I like not having to deal with office politics or annoying coworkers. I like being able to watch TV while I draw. I like getting to the end of my work day wishing I had more time to get things done instead of staring at a clock in somebody's office aching for 5:00 to come so I can go home.

17. Have you met any of your cartoonist idols? Under what circumstances?

One of the first cartoonists I met was a hero of mine. When I saw him get out of a crummy rusty old car, it shattered a lot of my illusions about the profession. Until then, Cartoonist Profiles had convinced me that cartoonists were all rich guys who played golf all day in Connecticut. Some of my early heroes have called me up years later to ask me for advice -- that's the greatest feeling in the world.

18. What advice would you give aspiring cartoonists?

My advice to aspiring cartoonists is the same advice they get from Nike: "Just Do It." You'll learn as you go, trial and error, practice makes perfect. You can't force it or will it, you just have to DO it. You have to take action, not just talk about it or daydream about it. Take some kind of
action every day that will bring you closer to your goals...do SOMETHING.

19. How important are awards?

If I had some awards they would probably mean more to me than they do now.

20. What’s something that nobody knows about you?

I buy all that "As Seen On TV" crap. As a joke, I ordered a whole bunch of that stuff to give my brother and his wife for Christmas, Sham Wow, Miracle Knives, Mighty Putty, The Clapper, The Ov Glove, and lots more, all of it carefully researched online.

During my research, I learned that most of that stuff actually works very well. Since then, I'm hooked.

Making Outlines Bolder

Here’s a cartoon with the initial digital pencil outline still in place. 

I’ve now duplicated the same digital pencil layer to make it bolder. 

I’ve now added a October layer with some additional inking to increase the boldness.

Complete the Cartoon!

Here’s a blank template for a cartoon set in a restaurant.

What can you add to the scene to complete it?

Think about: 

-the diner/s

-waiter/waitress

-what’s one the table? 

-if there anything unsual going on in the scene? 

-Is the chef lurking in the background? 

-any creatures? 

Video for the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’

Here’s a brief video I put together talking through generating some ideas for a blank train scene. 

A New Illustration for the ‘Idea-Nator - Cartoon Ideas Course’