Cartoon

Article Outline

Introduction; Fine Arts Cartoons; Pictorial Parody

Creating and Publishing Cartoons

Cartooning is an art form that, like any other, stems from creative inspiration as well as context. Cartoonists work in a different way from their sources, and each tries to develop a unique style. Editorial cartoonists pay close attention to current events, significant issues, and influential politicians in order to create their cartoons. Illustrative cartoonists work from editorial materials, educational texts, and advertising materials, illustrating their important or most interesting points. Most cartoonists sketch out their ideas in pencil, erasing and reworking the images and wording, if appropriate, until they feel ready to draw a finished product.

Techniques

Beginning in the mid-15th century cartoons were produced using the techniques of woodcut, etching, and engraving. In the 19th century, both lithographic and wood-engraving processes were used (see Prints and Printmaking), for cartoons that appeared in magazines. The development of photographic printing techniques in the 20th century facilitated the task of the cartoonist and printer. In particular, advances in printing technology since the 1960s have enabled more cartoonists to work in color, by rendering it more affordable and accessible.

Today, the most common tool of the cartoonist is the nibbed dip pen, designed to be dipped in a bottle of ink. The detachable nib (sharpened point) is available in varying line widths and degrees of flexibility, allowing the cartoonist to draw lines that can be modulated further by the use of a brush and ink. Many cartoonists like to experiment with a variety of other pens, such as felt-tip or mechanical pens.

Some cartoonists work exclusively with line drawings, while others like to use shading, which can be achieved in various ways. Crosshatching uses interlaced parallel lines of different densities to indicate form and the effects of light and shadow. Stipple, or patterns of dots, can be used in a similar way to create shading. Grayscale overlays, which consist of dots or lines in varying sizes and densities, accomplish the same purpose. Traditionally, grayscale was created by cutting and pasting ready-made sheets of dots onto a drawing, but computers are now able to overlay the patterns quickly and easily.

Distribution

In the United States today, a few large syndicates such as United Feature Syndicate, Inc. or Universal Press Syndicate dominate the mainstream distribution of cartoons and comic strips. Syndicates buy the rights to cartoons, usually as a series, and then sell them to publications. Most syndicated comic strips appear in 100 to 200 daily newspapers, and a few appear in more than 1,000 papers. Comic strips and their recurring characters may also appear on shirts, calendars, coffee mugs, and other merchandise. Nonsyndicated cartoonists sell their cartoons one at a time, most often to magazines. Over time, larger bodies of work by cartoonists can lead to the publication of collections of cartoons as books.

Apart from major newspapers, which feature editorial cartoons and pages of comics, and certain national general-interest magazines, there are numerous magazines covering special interests—such as hunting, gardening, or automobiles—that print cartoons relating to that interest. Other cartoon publishers include small, politically-oriented newspapers, designed to appeal to a specific viewpoint; specialized humor magazines, such as The National Lampoon; and magazines whose entire editorial content consists of cartoons, such as Funny Times. Cartoons may also be used in greeting cards, or they may be distributed through a cartoon bank, where large numbers of cartoons are scanned into a computer and made available to any publisher seeking a cartoon relating to a particular theme.

Historical Roots

Although ancient and medieval artists produced various forms of comic art, it was the invention of printing in Europe in the mid-15th century that made it possible to mass-distribute the types of drawings now referred to as cartoons. About the time of the Protestant Reformation (16th century) in Germany, cartoons, in the form of broadsheets or broadsides (single cartoons printed on large pieces of paper), began to be posted in public places with the intent of swaying people’s beliefs. The broadsheet cartoon subsequently played a vital role in mobilizing public opinion in events such as the Eighty Years’ War between the Dutch and the Spanish (1568-1648), the Thirty Years’ War in Germany (1618-1638), and the European wars against Louis XIV of France (late 17th century to early 18th century).

Caricature, a process that is the foundation of much cartooning, derives its name from the Italian verb caricare, meaning to charge, load, or exaggerate. Caricature drawing originated in 16th- and 17th-century Italian art studios, where famous artists such as Annibale Carracci and Gianlorenzo Bernini created exaggerated, humorous drawings of individuals. Caricature drawing became popular in the early 18th century, when Italian artist Pier Leone Ghezzi discovered he could earn a living selling his drawings and sketches of individuals and celebrities.

Early Cartooning

In the mid-18th century, English painter and engraver William Hogarth allied modified principles of caricature to realism to create comic types that were printed in line engravings and brought him widespread fame. Although the concept of multiple connected drawings did not take hold until the 19th century, Hogarth also launched the idea of pictorial storytelling—similar to that of a comic strip. He painted and engraved sets of narrative prints that satirized moral follies, such as A Harlot’s Progress (1732), A Rake’s Progress (1735), and Marriage à la Mode (1745). In the mid-18th century, English artist George Townshend became known for his portrait caricature cards, which were often hostile in intent.

In the so-called Golden Age of Caricature in England (about 1780 to 1820), thousands of broadsheet caricatures—essentially editorial cartoons—were produced, addressing the fashionable follies, political gossip, social scandals, and great issues of the day. The caricature-style cartoons of the Golden Age became hilarious, grotesque, and even on occasion vulgar. Artists such as James Gillray, who attacked politics, and Thomas Rowlandson, who excelled in social satire, were popular during this period. In France, from the 1830s, artist Honoré Daumier became known as the master of the political and social lithograph cartoon.

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Creating and Publishing Cartoons

Techniques

Distribution

Historical Roots

Early Cartooning