Young cartoonist looking for tips

[Jonny Whizz]

I sometimes draw (and occasionally finish!) cartoons in my spare time. I only really draw Beano characters (I've drawn a few Beezer characters, but never done any strips) because that's what I'm familiar with. I like to draw Billy Whizz especially, but I've produced a couple of Calamity James stories. I've drawn Billy Whizz in a variety of styles - Neill, Metcalfe, Parkins and a mix of all three, but with Calamity James I referenced Tom Paterson's own drawings to get a feel for his style. I used to draw on A4 paper, but now I draw on A3, like the majority of cartoonists.

Does anyone have any hints and tips about drawing comic strips, or just any advice about cartooning in general? As always, thanks for any help.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

any chance of scanning in some of your more recent efforts, Jonny?

---tell you what, I'll go first....I've tried all sorts of stuff in my time, and here's a 'political' job I done about 10 years back:




I only draw strips today, but they're too wide to scan in......by the time I work out how to 'stitch ' images together, I can come up with a week's new material, but I'll see what I can do....

[STARBOY]

wow pretty good - excuse the ignorance but are you a pro artist?

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Thanks, Starboy....I can draw to pro level, but haven't worked as an artist for years. I have been developing a strip over the past few years however, so I've never really stopped. I used to want to be a BEANO artist, but I am so used to doing my own stuff now, it's all-unique-to-me stuff I hope to pursue.


Lots of cartoonists are happy to stick to the BEANO style, however, and I don't blame them, it's a brilliantly fun style for any comic artist. But I am personally never completely happy trying to get drawings to look like another cartoonist's style.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

Most cartoonists have their own preferences, but the handiest thing I've discovered is the use of rough sketches: I draw these on cheapo paper half-size first. It doesn't look much, but this is where real creativity lies; if you only do about 2 of these a day, it only takes a few minutes of your time, and I now have at last 1000 of these rough ideas ---about 3 binders of them!----[I'd forgotten loads of them until I revisited them, but a lot of the stuff I can use later:}

much better than sitting there staring at a blank sheet of paper:





roughs help you a lot with composition and clarity problems; once the sketch is judged clear enough to 'read' properly, then is the time to start the proper finished cartoon [or strip, in this case]:



above: this is the only stitched-together example I have of my cartoon strips.

because the basic drawing problems have already been sorted out on the rough sketch, the finished penciling and inking can be approached with more confidence, and it also means less 'working out' on the finished cartoon: inking definately takes a good bit longer, so it's best to get the gag or strip effectively worked out properly beforehand.


This is just the basic idea of creating gags and strips that I have personally found useful and time-saving. As stated earlier, this approach has enabled me to build up a large reservoir of gag ideas with the minimum of effort......... though I have hundreds of completed strips, most of the ideas exist only in sketch format, but that's all you really need to make a start: I found it a lot more difficult to sit there and come up with 'finished' gags from scratch, all at once.

Other cartoonists undoubtedly have a different approach, but this way has enabled me to come up with more material than I can ever use, and it's the easiest way to 'tune into' the enjoyable process of creating cartoons. At this stage don't bother about flash computerized technique; that can always be applied later. All you need to start off is a pencil and cheapo paper!


[two good ideas in a day is more than enough to sustain a daily comic-strip.]

[Jonny Whizz]

Great cartoons, better than some pros! Agree with the tips about rough sketches - I have a few sketchpads with some ideas in, and often if I have a new idea for a comic strip, I draw some of the key images I want in the strip.

As for artist style, I tend to refer to a particular artist. My first A3 strip, a Billy Whizz, I drew in a fairly freelance style and was pleased with the result. However, when I started my second one, I needed to do just two frames before I decided I didn't like what I was producing. So since then I've drawn Billy in a Vic Neill style.

PS. Does anyone know how I can put an image on here? I've scanned several strips onto my computer, but can't put it on here.

[Digifiend]

There's a file size limit for uploading here. If your images are too big to upload, get some webspace, upload them to that, then put the url in

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

you need to join a web-hosting site like photobucket or imageshack, Jonny. There is a facility for putting images into forums like these, using right-clicking.

[STARBOY]

Really like your work Eyespy you should try your hand at submitting to companies liek Slave Labor in the US or magazines - good luck you def have something there

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

'Slave Labor' sound promising, Starboy! I will post a good few finished examples of the strip on a thread here after I get scaled-down copies. [I don't have my own blog or site, and prefer spending the time on actual drawing instead].

Glad you seem to like the stuff. I know there's not a lot to go on seeing just one finished strip, but there's loads more where that came from........

[Raven]

I like your style, too, ISPYSHHHGUY.

[Digifiend]

ISPYSHHHGUY, nice artwork. There's a thread about King Features Syndicate here, maybe you should write to them?

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

thanks, guys: you're so kind! I just hope the WORLD agrees with you! I will be mailing stuff out to the syndicates at some point......it's a tough business, but I've never gave up on cartooning.

[Lew Stringer]

you need to join a web-hosting site like photobucket or imageshack, Jonny. There is a facility for putting images into forums like these, using right-clicking.

No need to join any site. Simply go to http://tinypic.com/ and upload your jpg.
Then copy the info in the window that says "IMG Code for Forums & Message Boards" and post it in your message here.

Lew

[Jonny Whizz]

Erm, another question. I got some good A3 paper and I started a new strip yesterday, but do you think I should sign my work? Thanks in advance for any help.