Today, we see cartoons in the editorial and funny pages of daily newspapers, in comic books, textbooks, and magazines, in movie theaters, children’s television, and commercials. Likewise, many cartoon characters have become household names, such as Little Orphan Annie, Superman, and Charlie Brown to name just a few. Some comic strips create fantasy worlds for their readers to escape to. Others, such as Walt Kelly’s Pogo and Garry Truddeau’s Doonesbury, are so relevant to the real world that their readers may often refer to them rather than the evening news to learn about events.
Animation, a specialization of cartooning, has emerged more recently and suddenly than its parent art, due largely to the efforts of one man, Walt Disney, who had been involved with editor jobs for his masterpieces. A current trend in animated movies is live-action features in which human actors interact with cartoon characters to stunning effect. Because of the many applications of their work, including writing editing jobs, cartoonists and animators have become some of the busiest and most popular artists of the modern age. Cartoonist draw illustrations for newspapers, books, magazines, greetings cards, movies, television show, civic organizations, private businesses, or just about anybody, themselves included, with a message to convey. Cartoons are most often associated with newspaper comics or with children’s television, but they are also used to highlight and interpret information in publications as well as in advertising. Some illustrations they made in the televisions and newspapers are seemingly flawless, yet, prior to its making, it took time for the cartoonist to make revisions like editorial jobs.
Whatever their individual specialty, cartoonists translate ideas onto paper or film in order to communicate these ideas to an audience. Sometimes the ideas are original. Other times they are directly related to the news of the day, to the content of a magazine article, or to a new product. After cartoonists come up with ideas, they discuss them with their employers, whether they be editors, producers, creative directors at advertising agencies, or others. Next, they sketch drawings, employing editing jobs, and finally submit these for approval. Their employers may suggest changes, which cartoonists then make revisions, including video editing jobs. Cartoonists use a variety of art materials including pens, pencils, markers, crayons, paints, transparent washes, and shading sheets. They may apply to draw on paper, acetate, or Bristol board. Meanwhile, comic-strip artists tell jokes or short stories with a series of pictures. Each picture is called a frame, or a panel, and each frame usually includes words as well as drawings. Comic book artists also tell stories with their drawings, but their stories are longer, and they are not necessarily meant to be funny.
Furthermore, motion-cartoonists, or animators, draw a great number of pictures, each of which varies only a little from the ones before and after it in a series through editing jobs. When these drawings are photographed in sequence and then projected at high speeds, they appear to be moving. You can achieve a similar effect by drawing stick figures on the pages of a note pad and then flipping through the pages very quickly.
Educational cartoonists comment on society by drawing pictures with messages that are usually funny, but which often have a satirical edge. Their drawings often depict famous politicians. Portraitists are cartoonists who specialize in drawing caricatures. It must be noted also that most editorial cartoonists are also talented portraitists. Finally, to be a successful cartoonist, one must have a creative mind and artistic talent. He must also have an imaginative ability that can generate good ideas. Whether they create cartoon strips or advertising campaigns, they must be able to come up with concepts and images that the public may want to see. Cartoonists need not have a college degree, but some art training is usually expected by employers. Hence, animators are recommended to attend art school to learn specific technical skills.
Cartoonists need to be flexible people. As their art is much more commercial than painting and sculpting, they must be willing to accommodate their employers’ desires if they are to build a broad clientele to earn a more decent living. Further, they must be able to take suggestions and rejections gracefully. Their patience must be in their hands in making countless editing jobs. This will surely polish their talents to product a perfect masterpiece of creations.
