I like to draw cartoons but I’m not a good artist. My drawings resemble those of an elementary student who is struggling with line. I am a student with poor fine motor skills and weak eyes. So my cartoons are not pretty.
Yet I’ve learned that you can express ideas and convey humor or angst even with poor art skills. I’m sure you’ve seen cartoons with stick figures that are cute, or funny, or inspirational. But usually we like the detailed cartoons—the political cartoons with cross-hatched shadings and perspective and detail that take you places and introduce you to real people. I also like the excellent art in cartoons that play with dimensions and distort but portray a reality. Unfortunately, given my own limitations, I’ve abandoned any pretense that I will ever be an artist drawing cartoons.
I’m a writer. My cartoons are mini-short stories. They depend on my weak talents to succeed. Here are a few lessons I’ve learned by cartooning that help with story-telling.
#1.
The stock look or telling detail that identifies a character can be very helpful. I have trouble drawing realistic faces, but if the person has wild hair or a particular shape that allows for ready recognition, I can grasp onto that to put the character on the page.
#2
Cartoons are a split-second in time. They are succinct. Specific, Telling. And capturing that second, or a series of seconds, is essential. For story-telling, this is a transferrable skill! Hone in on a second. What does it look like? Who can it be shown? Cartooning has helped me practice with this technique.
#3
I may have a great idea, but it seems too big for the single frame cartoons that I draw. Even if I can separate the cartoon into four cells, I may not be able to compress all I want into it. I have found the joy of ancillary action. Little guys around the margins who comment from the gallery can add color, depth, and clarity. In novel writing, I hope to have more fun with ancillary action.
#4
Landscape is essential. All characters in cartoons must be grounded. Sometimes I use a simple line. The ground! Knowing that I can use something easy, quick, simple has helped me with writing. It must be done—there must be some grounding in scenes. They can’t float in the air. But they don’t need to be complex. In cartooning, I add details as needed. Maybe something in the foreground. Or in the distance. Or off to the side. My main action may have a frame around it. Knowing and thinking about these types of groundings helps in having choices in all kinds of writing.
#5
Color is so much fun. I sometimes make my cartoons just black ink on white paper. I don’t have time to color. And some of those work well. In cartooning, I may just color one or two elements in the cartoon cell. This highlight or attention-grabber directs focus and also gives just enough life for that cartoon. Other times, I color my entire cartoon in lurid colors. This is great fun, and works well for those cartoons where there is a detailed scene. These cartooning choices help me understand better the color choices I have in noveling. What kind of scene am I writing? Does it take up the whole page (figuratively) or is it just a looming figure where nothing else matters? Do I need color at all or is line and shape and shades of gray the better choice?
#6
In cartoons, characters say pithy statements. Action moves line by line, but wraps up quickly. There isn’t a lot of space. Cartooning gives me practice on concise dialogue. Where a character has several options for what they may say, figuring out what comes next and how much space there is for it becomes a weighty consideration. When I’m writing a novel, I often start off with lots of words, no limits. Keep writing. The more the better. Get rolling. But cartooning has helped me hone in on the importance of concise dialogue and how it shapes the story.
#7
Finally, although not last in the order of how I work—there is concept. Cartooning is about getting a quick jab in. A short statement. A point made. Synthesizing a lot of thought to one realization. Humor by juxtaposition. Ambiguity. Double entendre. Going out of bounds! Coming up with the concept is the hardest part of all.
My own methods vary—I often start with words or a phrase and try to put them into a story picture. Sometimes I start with images that I’ve seen of that I imagine. And then I try to figure out how this relates to something and what it means, what can be said. Similes, metaphors, classic tropes are all rich source material for cartoon ideas—tweaking them into a new realm can bring positive results.
And so it is I’ve learned with writing. The concept is critical. You don’t have a cartoon without the concept. You don’t have a story without a concept. Tragedy and time. Some form of payback. Some element in the concept is going to lead you into your story and help you get a through line.
If you haven’t tried cartooning, I recommend it. It’s fun. Cartooning is relaxing. It’s cross-training for writers.