to success. The only absolute rule is that your cartoons
have to make other people laugh. Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert
I get many requests for advice on becoming a
cartoonist. Here's my standard information, which is all I used. Beyond this,
I don't know that there's any one path to success. The only absolute rule is that your cartoons
have to make other people laugh.
Try subscribing to Cartoonist Profiles at P.O. Box 325, Fairfield, CT 06430 at $30 per year for four issues. It has good tips for beginning cartoonists.
For information on submitting cartoons to syndicates and publications get a copy of "Artist's & Graphics Designer's Market" at any major bookstore. They might have to order it.
For a comprehensive discussion of comic syndication, buy a book called YOUR CAREER IN THE COMICS by Lee Nordling, published by Andrews & McMeel, ISBN 0-8362-0748-3, 1995. If you can't get a bookstore to order it for you, try the publisher at 800-826-4216. (editors note: click on the bookname to order it from Amazon.com)
Materials:
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My daily strips are drawn 4" by 13" in the original. Sundays are 8" by 18". Everyone does it slightly different. The originals just have to be in proportion to the final space in the newspaper. The Sundays have several possible formats but I only use one.
I use a regular mechanical pencil with a hard lead to do the initial pencil work. Then I use Alvin Penstix to ink. They are a marker-type pen sold in business supply and art stores. My method is rare and not recommended. The water-based Penstix fade in light and do not make the interesting types of pen strokes that other cartoonsists achieve. The better cartoonists use a tiny brush and India ink. Some use dip pens with various kinds of nibs (pointy ends). I don't know anything else about those methods.
Your choice of paper will depend on what pens you are using. My paper is Strathmore Bristol, smooth, 100% cotton, 11x14, 2 ply, 15 sheets, item 580-72, for the dailies. For Sundays I use Bristol weight, smooth surface, 300 series, 19x24, 100 lbs, 20 sheets, 342-19. Larger art supply stores have them.
I add the shading dot patterns using Photoshop on my Macintosh, after scanning the line art. I use a pattern fill command with a pattern I created for that purpose. Other cartoonists buy decal-like material at art stores and apply the shading manually then remove the excess with an X-Acto knife.
The Sunday cartoons are scanned into my computer and then I use a proprietary software provided by the printer for adding color. You cannot buy this software.
Thanks Scott!
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