Why Don't Cartoonist Blogs Talk About Their Process?

 

I see cartoonist blogs online, and many discuss the publishing aspect of the work, but they DON'T talk about the everyday stuff very much.  Oh I'm not talking about where they get their ideas from, I mean what pens do they use, and why or why not.  Do they do half by hand and then scan it in and work in Photoshop?  Is it all done by hand? Do they use Bristol board or are they working on art paper or even computer printer paper?  Things like that.

 

While there's no 'wrong' way to do cartooning, some more basic info would help just to see what's been tried, why it's been tried, why NOT continue to do something, etc.  Knowing what erasers to stay away from (crumbless is good, smearing is not) and how hard the pencil lead should be is important information.  What works with certain inks and what won't. 

 

Which pens are TRULY waterproof so they don't smear when erased over can be a lifesaver.  Prices too, who uses Rapidographs or disposeable clones - that's a $14 difference per pen and if both give the same quality of work it's a great thing to know.  I discovered that it's not good to use Micron pens because even though they give a nice thin line, the ink capacity is about half that of a regular pen (they run out SO  quick), the ink also is not a true black, it's a grayed out shade of black.  Put another pen line next to it and the difference is significant.

 

What size do cartoonists work in? How far do they shrink their work down?  Do you really need to draw on a slanted surface?  What about eye strain?

 

Do cartoonists save their not so good ideas or drawings and go back later to revamp them?  Do they toss stuff even when half finished and how often do they do that?  Do they pin things up on a board to jimmy ideas later down the line?  HOW DO THEY STORE THEIR WORK?

 

It might be just me, but hey, I'd like to hear about these kinds of things.

Some Korean Letters Look Like Pictures

I saw some Asian (Japanese? Korean?) writing on a sushi ad in the paper today, and was struck by how much the main symbol looked like a spider. 

  

It was fun playing around with the idea that my Siamese ‘says’ the character and Marcus can’t understand what she’s saying (or why she’s constantly pointing).  He starts complaining that she needs to learn to speak English at some point. 

  

By the last panel she’s still faithfully pointing, saying the same symbol again as a big spider descends on Marcus from above (hissing too, it’s a mean spider). 

  

Not a super hilarious strip, but something sort of different.  I like how calm the Siamese stays through all this.

Blast From The Past

I shuffled things around on the bookshelves the other day and found some of my old comics from when I used to do science fiction conventions.  Self published work like Barr Wars, and graphic novels from back when THOSE were brand new on the market, such as Duncan and Mallory, Omaha The Cat Dancer, the old Phil Foglio work and a bunch of other things like the Centaur's Gatherum.

Wow, most are dated from the 1987 to 1992 years. There was a huge surge of good work being published back then in those years, before the economy tanked in the early 1990's.  It brought back such memories.......  Half those artists I never heard from again, they just disappeared into the woodwork. Names I was very familiar with, they just stopped drawing/producing.  That's so sad. 

Some of it shaped what I do now, and all of it was entertaining to me, though the Duncan and Mallory graphic novels are rather simplistic to me at this point.  All the characters smile too much.

Not sure if I should sell them now, or keep them, or what.  My interests have changed enough that some aren't what I want to hold onto.  But it's all original work, printed by small publishers (most of whom have bitten the dust decades ago). 

It's A Banana Tattooing Kind Of Day

I had time to wait while someone was at the doctor so I went to Cermak and got myself a giant burrito (made fresh) and sat in the patio section with scratch paper and a pen and my food.  It was actually productive.  

I did sketches for a strip about two of the little cats listening to rain coming down hitting the roof (we've had rain ALL day yesterday, with no thunder) and speculating on the sounds.  

I did up a meh strip (probably won't use it) where three are grooming and Marcus thinks he missed out on some chicken.... not all that inspired actually.

And the third was Marcus talking to the owner asking why she's tattooing a banana with a ball point pen (look it up online, there's some GREAT images of what you can draw on a banana skin). 

Of the three I like the rain strip the best.

Time To Make A New Post

Hello again, things really slowed down.  I'm looking at the large box of accumulated sketches and finished artwork and have been trying to locate several half done strips that got placed around the house where I'd 'remember' to get back to them later.  Ha!  Good ones too, one is about doing magic with a fly swatter a-la Hairy Pawter.  No, I won't use that spelling in the strip.  Have to find the two mini-comic sketches too. One's called Turf Wars, about raising catnip with grow lights down in the basement, the other is about winning the lottery or publisher's clearinghouse (maybe). 

Organization! It's all about organization!  Much of which I have been dropping the ball on lately.  Sorry.