No matter what your background, The Everything Cartooning Book is the all-in-one reference to unlock your hidden potential and set you on the fast track toward a rewarding career in cartooning. Professional cartoonist Brad J. Guigar shows you everything from how to create believable characters and effective story lines to writing humor and getting published. This step-by-step guide shows you all the insider techniques and tricks you need to make it in this fun and creative field. Features tips on how to:
Show movement
Create cartoons for different genres
Develop your individual style
Craft story lines
Sell your work
and more
Whether you like to draw Manga, create humorous animal characters, or satirize the world around you, The Everything Cartooning Book teaches you all you need to know to successfully follow your artistic dreams.
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Cartooning doesnât require a heavy initial investment. If you want to use a ballpoint pen on notebook paper, feel free to do so. However, if youâd like to draw cartoons professionally, consider buying some high-quality supplies and learning to use professional drawing tools. Investing in better equipment will have a noticeable impact on your work. If you donât take this step, itâs possible to fall into bad habits that will hinder your success as you get more serious about your work. Itâs okay to start small, but itâs less forgivable to start small-minded.
The Drawing Table
A drawing table is an excellent investment. After all, youâre going to be spending quite a bit of time drawing. With a good drawing table, you should be able to adjust the height and the angle of the drawing surface to suit your drawing posture comfortably. If you draw hunched over the dining-room table, youâre going to risk back pain, eyestrain, and the occasional pizza stain on finished art. A less expensive option is a tabletop that sits on top of a regular table.
Drawing Table Accessories
Youâll need to buy a T-square or install a horizontal rule onto your drawing desk. Either option is useful for drawing straight lines. A plastic triangleâguided against your T-square or horizontal ruleâwill enable you to draw straight vertical lines.
Also consider splurging on a comfortable chair to work in. You should be able to adjust the height and back support. If you plan on moving from the drawing table to a computer workstation, consider a chair with wheels.
A swing-arm lamp is perfect for directing light directly onto your drawing surface. Even if your work area has good overhead and/or natural light, you should have one of these lamps. If youâre right-handed, install it on the left-hand corner of the table so it shines on your paper and throws the shadow cast by your hand away from the area youâre concentrating on. Lefties, install your lamps on the right-hand side.
Handy Equipment
Once you have the basic furnishings of a cartoonistâs studio, you may want to consider a few other items. Some of these can be expensive purchases. Beginners may find substitutions at garage sales or online auctions.
Light Box
Some cartoonists use a light box to trace images so they maintain a consistent look from panel to panel and from day to day. The light box is also useful for tracing reference photos to create a background. As long as youâre not tracing over someone elseâs illustrations and passing them off as your own, tracing is considered fair use.
A light box is an excellent tool, but itâs not cheap. If youâre good at basic woodworking, you may want to build your own. Fashion a wooden box with an inset piece of Âź" Plexiglas on top. Install a fluorescent light insideâan incandescent light will heat up the glass and make drawing uncomfortable.
A homemade light box
Canât I get the same results using my window? Even if you live in an area where itâs always sunny, it would be hard on your back. If you canât build a box, start with a milk crate. Or ask a doctor for an old X-ray reader. Or convert your outdated scanner using instructions found here:
As a practicing cartoonist, you will accumulate several hundred pieces of finished art each year. Find a safe, dry place to store themâa place where they are safe from water, pests, mildew, pets, and so on.
Protect your art by storing it inside plastic containers with lids that shut tight. Buy the containers at a large enough size that you can store your finished work without folding or bending it. When youâre shopping for these containers, consider buying ones that are stackable. Youâll be surprised how quickly they fill up.
Taboret or Cabinet
Think about how you want to store your supplies. Something with a flat surface on top and three or four drawers would work best. You could buy a taboret at your local art supply store, but any number of common furniture items could also work: an old nightstand, a small chest of drawers, a filing cabinet, etc. The âhome organizationâ section of your favorite department store will probably have something to fit the bill. It should be small enough to fit next to your drawing table and tall enough to allow you to reach your tools from a seated position.
Drawing Tools
Of course, youâre free to use any method of creating an image, but as a professional artist, you should limit yourself to those tools that produce crisp, easily reproduced lines quickly and predictably. The standard method is to sketch in pencil and finish the art in ink using a pen, brush, or marker.
Sketching Pencils
Pencils are for sketching onlyânot for final art. Pencil work is too likely to be smudged or damaged as it is processed for publication. Avoid working final art in pencil unless there are special circumstances that dictate otherwise.
Since the lines you make in pencil are not intended to be seen in the final art, use ânonphoto blueâ pencils. The color of the leadâlight blueâdoes not photocopy well, nor is it particularly readable by a scanner. That means pencil marks will disappear as the work is processed for publication. Lines drawn with these pencils will not have to be erased unless they are very dark. You can ink over them, safe in the knowledge that the stray pencil marks that remain will disappear in the production process.
If you prefer mechanical pencils, take heart. You can buy blue leads at any office supply or art supply store. They work just as well as the nonphoto blue pencils.
When you go to the art supply store, take your notebook as well as your checkbook. Write down the price of the item you need as well as its product number. When you get home, plug the product number into an Internet search engine (you may need to add the manufacturerâs name). Youâll find countless merchants vying for your business. Keep the art storeâs price to compare.
Black and White Ink
Always use an opaque waterproof black, like India ink. Once it sets, it stands up to time and wears wonderfully. Donât experiment with cheaper products that claim to be âjust as good.â Itâs a terrible feeling to look back on old work youâre proud of and see the line work faded because you used cheap supplies.
Accidents happenâeven to experienced inkersâso donât panic. Use opaque white ink for corrections. Daler-Rowney Pro White is a popular brand among cartoonists.
Brushes
Red sable brushes such as the Winsor & Newton Series 7 are considered to be the best by many cartoonists. They stand up to wear wonderfully and they work well with India ink. Some brushes flop and wobble when loaded up with ink. Red sable brushes flex and spring back into shape. Buy a few different sizes and shapes and experiment to find the ones youâre comfortable with. In general, youâll want a couple of pointed brushes for line work and a rounded brush for filling in blacks.
To prepare a brush, dip it into the ink and then pull it across a sheet of scrap paper, twirling it in your fingers as you draw the brush back. This forms the brush into a point and distributes the ink evenly inside the bristles. You can produce very thin or very thick lines depending on how hard you push the brush into the paper.
Pens and Nibs
There are several types of pens to choose from. The trick is to find the one you like the best and practice with the ones that produce the lines you want. Youâll want to try a crow quill pen for fine lines. For lettering, select a couple of pens with rounded ends: A Hunt Globe 513 and a Speedball D5 or B6 are excellent choices.
Although you can get by with one pen holder and several nibs (a nib is the penâs tip), itâs recommended you buy a few holders. That way, you can switch from one nib to another as you complete your work, without making a mess.
Wash pen nibs and brushes with mild soap and warm water after every use. Avoid using hot waterâit damages brushes by loosening the glue that holds the bristles. Dry everything on an old towel or paper towel. With even the best upkeep, your drawing instruments will need to be replaced when they become worn. Using brushe...
