George WebberArtist - Cartoonist - Illustrator

Drawing & Making Comics on the iPad 

So the question is, can a comic book created or better still a printable comic book be made entirely on the Apple iPad?

Well so far the answer seems to be Yes, No, Sort of, Maybe. Confused?, ya me too.

Ok, so let me give you the break down. The first step was coming up with a short all be it stupid story, not too tough for a headcase like me.

Next you'll need some Art, this is where thing can get tricky as the iPad can be great for drawing but still has limitations, if you don't try to go too wild it'll work.

I used Apps like Brushes and Sketchbook Pro to draw a few random Batman test images while testing those apps (there are several others that work quite well too, but I'll get into that another time).

So I've got some Batman sketches I've done on the iPad and a few photos of a lady freind (Natasha Yi) that I downloaded off the web in Safari onto the iPad.

Next I need Panels, Word Balloons and Text.

All three of these I managed in a App called CartoonStrip CS, CartoonStrip is still pretty new and has a ways to go before it's a real comic book maker, but it has the basic tools to pull it off, not bad for a Version 1.01 App.

NOTE: CartoonStrip only does Horizontal pages at this time!

So, CartoonStrip ... just select a template page of panels, get your images from the iPads Albums by clicking on the "X' in the panels, move scale and rotate the images as you please.

Sadly you can only scale UP and not down, nor can you put more than one image in a panel as there's no Alpha Channels or Layers, it would be pointless anyway.

Next put in some Word Balloons and type some text. The "Tail" of the Word Balloons can be grabbed and dragged to any place and length ... although it does take some practice to get the "tail" and not the picture.  It would be nice if you could "lock" the pictures in place, but that's not an option either at this time. 

NOTE: Once you save a Page in CartoonStrip, it becomes a jpg and can no longer be edited. So be sure everything it right before you save or you'll have to make the page all over again. I know I had to make several pages two or three times to get them 100% right.

You can read my goofy comics pages here , then continue to read the rest of the story.

Just click the cover image to open it and click arrows to change pages.

OK, so that's the comic pages look as they come out of CartoonStrip.

The images are iPad Screen Resolution JPGs, so they can be printed and look ok, not fabulous super crisp high res, but not too bad either. I quite was surprized at how they looked, I didn't expect anything much given I had streched some images quite a bit. But they where pretty good.

For the next step I had to go out of the iPad and into the computer in order to make a PDF file from all my pages. I'm not aware of a PDF writter App at this time, if there is, then even more of the process can be done in the iPad, which would be great.

Anyway, it was a simple task, just rename the images in page order 01, 02, 03, etc and make a multi page PDF.

Setting the PDF to print a Booklet was fairly brainless too (borrowed the use of a nice high end laser printer for two sided printing, sweet )

Finally if you have the iBooks app on you iPad you can drag and drop your PDF into iTunes under Books and Presto! your PDF will go to your iPad (after a sync) and you can read you comic on your iPad.

Pretty freakin' cool if I do say so myself

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 Using the iPad for Art? Part 1 

When the iPad was first announced I like many other artist wondered if maybe this could be a light weight moble art studio or sketch pad.

The more I read about the iPad at that time the more I had doubts that it would or could, but it was a bit too soon to tell for sure.

Since then I seen several iPad add-on gadgets and many apps that made me interested in the iPad for other uses, but at the same time I still wanted to draw on the iPad.

So ever since I got my iPad I've been trying to find what Drawing Apps, Stylus and other gadgets work together well enough to say the iPad is a plausable mobile art studio or at least as a functional sketch pad.

So far I've been testing three brands of stylus, eight drawing apps, three photography apps and several iPad gadgets like the Apple USB port adapter and some others.

And I'll be writing about the Apps and gadgets as part of this on going series, but for now let's start with the Stylus.

The Pogo Sketch Stylus

Like most people it seems I tried the Pogo Sketch Stylus first.

 http://www.tenonedesign.com/sketch.php

The short version of my thoughts on the Pogo are as follows, if you want something small to just poke around your iPhone or iPad's screen, it's fine, but if your looking for an art tool ... maybe not so much.

At the same time I can't totally rule out the Pogo as an art tool as it largely depends on how you feel about the following items.

The first thing is the Pogo is skinny, much like a PDA stylus which for some people might be fine, but for larger hands it could be a problem.

Of course the Pogo has a pocket clip and a top knot with a hole for tethering,but while the body is metal, the clip is plastic and at $ 15.00 bucks feels too cheap. Sure I've seen it listed for as little as eight bucks and even then it just doesn't add up for me, it feels like paying ten bucks for a 49 cent Bic ball point pen.

The next thing is the little spongy tip has a "drag" feel to it when moving on the screen, some people like a little drag, some don't mind, others may not like it at all.

In my opinion it's not huge drag but it can be felt and I don't care for it when doing broad strokes, on smaller detail work it's not so bad. In fact sometimes the Pogo is just what you need to do detail work as the small tip is pretty easy to see around and place where you want it, but still not great.

The big issue I have with the Pogo is the sponge tip doesn't seem to hold up to the scrubbing motion that many artist may use, it really seems to get compressed or wear down. I noticed a change in the shape of the tip after about a week of some what heavy use.

Next up is the Dagi.

I don't own a Dagi yet, but I did try out my friend Doc Popular's for a little while.

The first thing I noticed is it really requires you to hold it in a certain position and seems like your forced to work a slower pace. It also seems to need a firmer touch to work.

It could be I wasn't really used to the unusual feel of the Dagi's harder plastic tip, however that nice little sight glass pinpoint might work well for smaller precision placement for detail work once getting used to it.

I'll have to get one to test it out more to make a final determination on it and that could be a trick in itself as they are only really sold in Asia and through eBay.

http://www.dagi.com.tw/front/bin/home.phtml

The final stylus we have is the Targus.

The Targus is the stylus I currently use and like quite a bit.

It's body is thick enough that it feels like a nice pen, although it is shorter than a standard pen, it's not too much shorter so it still fits the hand pretty well. It also has a nice weight and balance to it.

Anyway like the Pogo the Targus features a pocket clip and a top knot with a hole so it can be tethered somehow if you wish, the diffrence is it's all metal.

Now the most important part of any stylus is the tip and the Targus has a rounded soft rubber like material that with a light or heavy touch glides quickly and smoothly on the iPad. On most of the apps I've tried the Targus response is quick even using a soft touch which is nice.

If the Targus tip has a flaw it's that being soft you'll tend to "squish" it down on the screen harder than you need to, but even then it moves quickly and doesn't wear down like like the Pogo. After a little use you'll get the feel for the Targus and it'll perform nicely.

The Targus has a much more natural angle like a pen or brush when drawing with it.

It seems Box Wave makes a stylus that's pretty much a twin for the Targus so I'll assume the results would be the same with the Box Wave, except that the Box Wave cost more.

All told I have to say as art tools each of these stylus may have a use, but for a good all around general purpose tool the Targus gets my money first.

BestBuy has them but at $ 15.00 bucks they go out of stock fast.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Targus+-+Stylus+for+Apple%26%23174%3B+iPad%26%23153%3B/1151337.p?id=1218226504600&skuId=1151337

Try the Targus, I think you'll like it.

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Comic Conventions & Trade Show Tips 

Before I was doing Comic Book Conventions to sell my books, prints and buttons, I worked in several other circuits like Custom Car & Motorcycle Shows, Multi Media & Software Shows and even Stage Shows for local bands.

If you do enough "on the road" type shows you learn a few tricks that really help.

So, I thought I'd share some of my tips and rules learned from my experiences in hopes it might help shorten the learning curve for new people that are wanting to try doing Trade Shows.

So here's a few of my best tips.

1. Two Heads are better than one :

While the old "Two Heads" adage my seem silly, the fact is having two people work a Convention Table is better than having just one.  It doesn't matter if the other person in a general helper or an out right "Booth Bunny", the fact is having someone else there to handle the table while you run off to lunch or the rest room or other emergancy is your best option.

2. Girls RULE :

I don't mean to come off sexist or something, but the fact is that; Girls, Women, Ladies, Hostesses, Booth Bunny's whatever you want to call them, Females can generally pull people ( male and female ) in and drive sales better than us guys.   You'll see it and any type of show you go to, the booths with women pull in more potential buyers.

So if your helper is female use her to your advantage, be sure she knows your products and pricing! Also keep in mind, she doesn't need to be a sexed up "Playboy Bunny" type for this to work ( though admittedly it does help ), she just needs to be a open personable type. Some of the best sellers I've seen at shows are Husband & Wife (or Boyfriend/Girlfriend )Teams, the wife gets them in, chats them up and the husband rings up the sale whiel she hooks the next one.

They say that sex sells, but it's far more than that, why do you think most Navigation Systems have Female Voices? 

3. Practice & Preparation Makes Perfect :

Always have everyone practice the Table Setup, the Presentation and Sales Pitches as a group before ever taking it on the road. Getting firmilar with your overall persentation well before hand help keep the "goof ups" to a mimimum. At the same time it's important to remember, doing presentations on the road isn't like doing it in your practice space.

Remember, things can change suddenly, you never really know in advance if you might need to alter in your setup or presentation to fit a situation, so try to prepare for surprises ahead of time.

Putting together and having a general "Game Plan" from the practice sessions really helps. I've go so far as to setup my Convention Table in my living room to see if everything looks and works right and to come up with a "Plan B" if things are not as expected at the location. Trust me, this happens a lot, so be ready to make alterations.

4. Prepare for Surprises :

Setup a "Show Kit" generally this is some boxes of stuff like:

Pens, Markers, Clamps, Blue Painters Tape, Duct Tape, Heavy Duty Extension Cord, Plug Adapters, Fliers, Pamphlets, extra Business cards, Equipment Check List !!

These are all the odds and ends that can and will save your butt when things go wrong .... and they will go wrong.  They can also help you help other people around you that might not have perpared as well and helping others at a show is always a good thing.

Like the Boy Scout and Girl Scouts .. "Be Prepared"

Personally I have a couple boxes like this marked "Show Kit" with a list of what's in them on the box and I never take those items out for other uses, so those are ready to go whenever I am.   You don't want to have to look for stuff at the last minute as you head out the door, nor do you want to not be able to find what you need when you need it, so marking things is important.

5. Control the Environment :

Never assume there will be a wall to project a presentation onto or hang artwork, graphs or whatever on.
A standing screen, easel or some type of folding wall is a handy thing and it's fairly cheap to buy or even make.

Be aware of how well your projector or other equipment will works in different lighting situations, you never know if you can control the lighting or not.  The same is true for Sound/Audio, a microphone/speaker ( Mini PA ) for the people speaking may seem like overkill and in some places it is or isn't even allowed, but not everyone has a strong speaking voice or there maybe other outside noise that can't be controlled.

Your presentation is best when it can be seen and heard clearly!

The same is true for SIGNAGE ! , I have three diffrent types of signage because every table, booth and show location is going to be different.  I have a four foot wide over the table drape (and my own eight foot table cloth) with my Company Logo on it, I have a six foot wide over head Banner and two 24 x 84 inch Stand Up signs.   It's pretty rare that I'd use these all at once, but I put them all in the truck so I'll have what I need when I need it.

Speaking of Signage, as much as I like Batman, Wonder Woman or Coke-Cola, I'm not out to sell those products at a show, so I wear t-shirts that promote MY products or Company, not someone elses. You should do the same.

6. TIMING :

I personal show up at shows, at least 40 minutes to an hour before people are supposed to come.

This gives me time to coordinate with location staff and cover any issues if any, setup my table and products, setup any hardware and TEST EVERYTHING !!

Hardware is what will ALWAYS give you the most trouble. I can't tell you how many times I've had to fix a problem right before show time. So yes, I even test my drawing pens and drawing position before the show starts.

If this is all timed right you even have a moment or two to take a breath before you have to start greeting people

6. How Did We Look :

As a independent artist selling comics I don't think anyone expects or even would want some super slick extravaganza like HP or APPLE might put on, but a little gloss does go a long way.   A table presentation that looks good and runs smoothly inspires confidence in the people and products, thus making sales easier.

A little "Gloss" is simply good presentation and being in control of problems and fixing them before anyone knows there was a problem.

My Motto for this has always been : "If you look like you know what you're doing even when you don't, people will believe in you".

So that's about it for now, good luck and see you at the next show !

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Adobe Photoshop Performance Tips

Ok, If you're like me and work on comic book art or cartoons for print, photo work, video work or other computer intensive work. you may have noticed an average computer often just doesn't cut it.

Well here’s some tips on why it might be slower than you would like and some tips that may help speed things up as well.

So you've got a fast computer with what you think is a good amount of RAM and a big multi gig drive. But you may find yourself wondering why running Photoshop makes that machine act like a total slug.

Here's the likely reasons why :

Microsoft Windows is a ram pig at best and depending on the version you have, you need RAM and lots of it just to make Windows run smoothly.

But what they don't tell you is what it takes to really run smooth.

Windows XP runs pretty well on a gig of RAM and is limited to 3.5 gig, Vista runs on two gigs and better on four, Windows 7 ... who knows.. but that's really just the OS running well. Toss Photoshop into that mix and things can get real sluggish if you work on large files.

See, Photoshop wants RAM too. Now if you're only doing low resolution stuff for fun or internet resolution graphics, the basic requirements will likely serve well enough. But if you're doing large scale, high resolution work with lots of layers, you're going to run into some lag.

Here's why :

Photoshop is a massive RAM hog, not just the program itself but the file you're working on will expand Photoshop's needs greatly.

Let's say the Image File your working on is 11 x 14 inches at 300 dpi or larger and has ten layers and is hitting twenty megs open, this is easy to do for print work, photo work or comic book work.

OK, so ... when the file is open in Photoshop there is the "Image File" that you see AND a "Virtual" copy of that file that you don't see. Photoshop uses that "Virtual File" for things like your "UNDO" command and a few other things.

The thing is the "Image File" and the "Virtual File" are BOTH twenty megs each ... so that's forty megs total! ... But wait it's not over yet.

If your file has "Layers" that you've added to do different things, then every "Layer" is adding to that file size in "Memory". So at this point Windows, Photoshop and your "Image File" are suddenly using huge amounts of RAM.

Is there help for this problem?

Sure Windows and Photoshop both make use of "Virtual Memory" help cure the RAM shortage problem ... sort of anyways.

"Virtual Memory", is also known as a "Swap Disk" or a "Swap File" in Windows, and a "Scratch Disk" in Photoshop.

Both Windows and Photoshop can use EMPTY hard drive space as "Virtual Memory" to supplement your "Physical RAM" , now you're thinking "Oh, cool! I got a huge hard drive, so I'm all set." Well, maybe and maybe not.

See, if you only have one hard drive and Windows and Photoshop are both using the same empty drive for their "Virtual Memory" schemes, then drive will be trying to seek three or more types of file data in several places at once.

So the programs are competing for the hard drive's "Head Seek Time" , this "Seek Time" even on a very fast drive is much slower than RAM ... doesn't sound too quick does it?

That's where having all that "Physical RAM" comes in handy. "Physical RAM" is much faster than the "Virtual Memory" solution.

But if all the "Physical RAM" gets used up like when working on large files, you're back to using "Virtual Memory" and if you have just one drive, you would back to square one and can end up with the drive head thrashing wildly.

So to fix the problem?

1. Don't scan or make 300 dpi or larger images unless you have need for them, for web pages 72 dpi is plenty, over scanning just make big files that you may not need for your use.

2. Use "Layers" wisely as they add to the file size very quickly.

3. While "Virtual Memory" is must have item, having as much "Physical RAM" as your OS can handle is much faster.

4. Many of Photoshop's "Filters" use a ton of CPU cycles, so a CPU that can crunch numbers fast will help a lot if you use a lot of filters.

THE REAL CURE :

Mixing Windows (or any OS) and Photoshop requires a balancing act of sorts, it goes something like this:

CPU speed effects the speed of the Math calculations needed for most Photoshop commands and filter effects and so on.

Having more RAM effects "Command" speed because it reduces "File Swapping" to "Virtual Memory" .

"Virtual Memory" reduces the load on "Physical Memory" when it becomes overloaded with data.

All of this stuff, your OS, Photoshop and your file and any number of background programs are competing for your computer's resources. In this chain of events the hard drive is generally the weakest link in the chain. While it might be the biggest space wise, it's also the slowest and it's trying to do a lot of the work.

So my game plan has always been add hard drives, why? Well, with Photoshop having two hard drives is better than one and having three or four drives is really the way to go.

Having multiple drives will cut down on any one drives "Head Seek Time" because if you set it up right each drive will have it's own job to do so the computer can find what it needs faster.

I lay it out my systems like this :

The OS (Windows) and Photoshop programs get install on your "Main" hard drive (C drive).

The Windows "Virtual Memory" can be set to this drive also, BUT it can be set to the Forth hard drive where Photoshop's "Scratch Disk" is going to go. Crazy as that seems it works pretty well.

The Second drive (D drive) is where you keep all your "Work Files".

The Third drive (E drive) is where you first "Back Up Copy" of your "Work Files" will live (other copies should be on CD or DVD by client if you’re smart.

The Fourth drive (F drive) is just a big empty drive for your OS's "Virtual Memory" and Photoshop "Scratch Disk".

Finally keep your all drives clean so there's plenty of "Continuous Free Space" de-fragment your drives often as "Continuous Free Space" is what helps keep this (or any system) running smooth and fast.

RULE :

Any and/or all kinds of hard drives WILL FAIL sooner or later, that's a fact. If you're not backing up your work to CDs or DVDs don't cry to me when you lose work to a drive failure.

Been there, done that.

In conclusion a well balanced machine will net you more performance not only in Photoshop but in all your programs. And good backup will save your butt every time.

- gWebber

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Play Your Audience

If you want to sell your art or your comics you need to figure out how to "Play Your Audience". What this basicly means is, get them excited about your art or comic or you for that matter, that's when they'll start buying. This is especially true at shows like Wonder Con, Comic Con, etc.

Some artist are so good at "Playing an Audience" or playing their "Personal Character" they've become just as famous (or more so) for "who they are" or "what they do" as they are for the art or products they make.

Good examples of "Personal Character" selling products.

Paris Hilton - Famous for being famous, brands tons of products and people buy them.

OCC (the American Chopper guys) - Father and Son fight like mad on TV build a bike or two and get rich selling them.

Andy Warhol - I shouldn't have to explain this.

While I don't personally care for the stuff in these videos below as "art" (although interesting) I have to say these guys really know how to "play" an audience for all it's worth.

David Garibaldi

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-Uy5T4x-p4

David does Disney http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1XoRg9qCI8

David mentions Denny Dent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv8ovqebOGY

as one of his inspirations, while Denny's portraits might not have as strong a likeness as some of David's, Dent's use of color is far better in my opinion.

Then there's Rock Demarco who teaches us how NOT to promote yourself, this is so bad it's comical http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLDeZJ4JiLE&feature=related

Ok, one more, she paints, she dances, she does Kung-Fu? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbVL_AbPg-U

You just gotta love it.

-gWebber

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ART LESSON # 3

Everything you don't know about making comics and cartoons.

If you're reading this I'm going to assume for the moment that you are or want to be a comic book creator or cartoonist.

This lesson is about knowing your craft ... I don't mean knowing how to draw as I assuming you know how to do that to some degree or another already. This is more about learning the other parts of the craft of being creator.

As creators of images, we often forget about the importance of things like writing, story flow, panel flow, page layout, fonts, sound effects and a thousand other details behind our artwork that can really make a comic or cartoon work or fall on it's face (trust me, I've made all the classic mistakes).

Now I'm no genius on most of these subjects especially writing, so I'm just going to do the smart thing and refer you to some books I've been reading that are written by guys that ARE geniuses on these subjects.  Ya' I know, "uhg, I gotta read"? Well these are not you average books on the subjects, these are as entertaining as they are informative and I hate to read as much as the next guy.

But if you sit down and read these books and really get the meanings of what's being said, you'll know why every good art school teaches Art History as a prerequisite. These books are like getting a Degree in Comics Therory from some of the best minds on the subect.

Also be smart and get these books at great prices by buying from Amazon, just click on the links and save! I got most of these for way less than Book Store Prices.

"Writing for Comics and Graphic Novels"
(Revised Edition)
by Peter David

I'm really loving this book, as comic or cartoon artist we kind of assume we know how to draw and there for we can make comics. Well, sometimes we really forget how important a story that works is to making a comic that works

.

After just jumping around in this book reading bits here and there I could see an improvement in the writing for my single panel cartoons, I can't wait to read the book more and apply it to a full comic!

My only issue is that after you read the book, you'll never look at TV the same way again as you'll know how the writers are manipulating the audience.

"Making Comics" by Scott McCloud

This a book I highly recommend, I don't think there's anyone that can present information as brilliantly as Scott McCloud. If you are a comic book creator or cartoonist or want to be one, Scott's books will teach you things about your chosen craft that could take years to learn otherwise.

These are not "How to Draw" type books, these are about the "Art" of making comics, the things that make comics work, the nuts, bolts and mechanics of a comic.

Trust me on this, after you read all of Scott's book you'll be a better comic book artist in ways you haven't imagined.

"Reinventing Comics" by Scott McCloud

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Like all of Scott's books it forces you to think outside of what you think know about comics and then gives you a new understand of what a comic is and could be.

"Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud

To be honest I haven't read this book yet, but with the amazing way that the last two books altered my thinking about comics, I'm pretty sure this is a must read.

"How to Make Web Comics" by Scott Kurtz

Highly recommend for anyone that wants to get serious about doing and selling cartoons and comics. It's not just about Web Comics, it's loads of great info on EVERYTHING you want and need to know right down to good table setups for your first Comic Convention!

Enjoy the Books

 - gWebber

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ART LESSON # 2

Your Friend the Digital Camera.

If you have a Digital Camera or Cell Phone Camera, carry it, keep it charged and use it.

As an artist your Digital Camera can be your best friend and can save your butt in many ways.

Here's some examples of how to make it useful :

See, I'm cool.

Photos of textures can be made into Photoshop brushes, stamps or tiles and other goodies.  Photos of windows,doors or building can be used as reference for backgrounds and other stuff. Pictures of interesting people can inspire charactrers and referencing real people often gives the final cartoon character have a more real feel as well no matter how silly it might be drawn.

NOTE :  People don't always want their picture taken by stranges, so try to be aware of that.

That doesn't mean be sneaky about it ( well not all the time ), sometimes just a quick introduction and explination of what it is you do will get the job done.

Something like "Hi, I'm a cartoonist and I was wondering if I could take your picture for reference for a character ( or project ) I'm working on, can I show you some of my work?" 

Having a business card and sketch book ( Example, the pocket sketch book from lesson #1 ) of your cartoons handy will help break the ice too. 

Taking pictures of people at a bit more of a distance too, stuff like sitting, standing, walking or talking are useful as reference for the way people move, stand, make gestures and so forth. Plus taking photos from what seems like a broader area, people are less likely to notice you're taking pictures of them specify.

NOTE : The cameras Zoom feature is your freind.

You can also use your digital camera to take instant reference photos of yourself,  your hands, your feet or whatever posed it is you can't seem to visulize to draw correctly.

A mini tripod and a timer feature is helpful for this. This also works great with facial features and expressions too, animators have long used mirrors for this trick. Digital cameras just do it better as you don't have to keep making the same stupid face in the mirror. Plus your friends will enjoy plastering the photos of you making stupid faces all over the internet when they borrow your camera.

In a pinch a Digital Camera can even stand in for a scanner, granted the images are not always as good as a scanner, but they're better than nothing and it gets the image into the computer to be worked on, emailed, twittered or whatever.

Also taking photos frequently improves your "eye" for seeing "images" and not just what's in front of you. Photography is a serious art form too and many of the conventions and rules of photography and drawing are quite simular.

And being able to grab a quick snap shot with that hot girl or guy you met so you can convince your friends you're not just a big old comic book nerd like me is really handy.

So just go out and take some photos will ya'.

-- gWebber

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ART LESSON #1

OK, maybe this photo might not seem like an art lesson, but there really is one, you just have to read the whole story.

The first part of the lesson is this, a pocket size sketch book, mecanical pencil, eraser and your favorite marking pen take up very little space in your pocket or bag and if you want to be serious as an artist, cartoonist, comic creator, whatever .. you need to be sketching all the time and whenever inspiration hits you (more about the this lesson below photo).

So, this is how this lesson starts.  I was on the train headed to the Pier 39 area to go to Dudley Perkins Harley Davidson to buy a new hat to replace my favotive one I lost at APE.

While on the train i'm looking at sketches and cartoons in my pocket sketch book and I had an idea for a new cartoon for my Ted & Ned cartoon series. So out comes the pencil and I rough up the general idea for the cartoon before I forget what it is.

Sure, the train is bumpy and the sketch ends up looking like stick figures from hell, but it's on paper so I won't forget it.

LESSON : A sketch book is better than your memory is.

So after I get my new hat, I'm wandering around the Pier 39 area as I haven't been there in forever and I'm thinking ... I haven't had a burger in a long time and well, honestly, I like Hooters Burgers waaaaaay better than any of the fast food places.

So now I'm sitting at a table waiting for my burger and I have time and I have a inking pen in my pocket along with my pocket sketch book, so I finish the cartoon that I sketched up on the train. Sure, it still needs final clean up on the computer but I can SELL this cartoon after a little touch up.

LESSON :  I've just earned some money while waiting for lunch ... what did you do during lunch?

After lunch while sucking down the five gallon soda (Thank goodness it's diet) Hooters serves I'm still in the mood to sketch, so I knock out a quick one of Qian, my very cute Hooters waitress. I now have a very happy waitress that is more than happy to take a photo with me.

LESSON : For you single guys, sketching girls is a great ice breaker.

So, in just under an hour my pocket sketch book and pencil has generated ideas, been my memory, filled some dead time, given me some drawing practice,  earned some money, given me something to Blog about and made a girl happy.

How's that for an Art Lesson?

-- gWebber

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So you think you can't Draw.

I hear this all the time "I can't draw a straight line, so I can't draw cartoons, but I have great ideas". (Does this sound familiar?)

Well, I can't draw a straight line either, that's what rules are for.

So get the idea of not being able to draw a straight line out of your head, it has nothing to do with your ability to create cartoons, comics or any other kind of art.

The second thing I hear a lot of is "I could never draw like that". (or does this one sound familiar?)

This generally is in reference to some wildly complex drawing seen in some main stream comic book or some piece of fantastic artwork. To be honest I can't draw like that either, but I'm still a cartoonist and an artist.

In much of the "Art World" and in cartooning in particular, an idea and the ability to communicate that IDEA is as important if not more important that the ability to draw in a idealized artistic manner.

So you get the idea that you can't do it because of some imagined lack of skills out of your head too, because it doesn't apply either.

I started drawing when I has just a small child, I had some skill for it, maybe more than your average six year old, but nothing great. But I loved drawing, so I worked at it all the time and now after some fourty years of it I feel I have some reasonable degree of skill.

During that time people would say to me "You should do a comic book", "You should do a cartoon strip" and my favorite ... "You should do something with your artwork". Of course they never had and useful suggestions of what to do, or how to go about any of it, plus I couldn't get the idea in my head that I could actually draw a cartoon strip or a comic book.

Why?, I had the same mind set that you most likely have. I couldn't draw like what I saw in comic books like Marvel and DC and I thought that was the only way to do comic book art.

Boy, was I wrong ... and if I was, so are you.

Over time I started really seeing art, not just comic books and cartoon strips. I starting looking deeply at logos, TV, cartoon shows, abstract, modern and fine art. In my mind a new understanding of what I was REALLY seeing in those images developed.

Then one day it hit me, sadly very late in life for me ... so what hit me?

What hit me was the fact that I really don't have to draw some incredible detailed Super Hero or some Master piece like the Mona Lisa to be an artist. This is a crazy idea I know, but it's true and if I don't ... neither do you!

So after half a lifetime of trying to learn how to draw overly complex or hyper realistic images, I learned at the age of, um, fifty something that I could be an artist, I could create comics, cartoons and even books without the artistic skills of the Great Masters of fine art.

I believe I owe this to the fact that I finally learned that it' OK to simplify. Heck it's not only is it OK, it's often better to simplify. So now I'm learning how to simplify my art work instead of trying to reach a skill level that I couldn't possibly reach.

So, how does this help you, you might ask.

Well, it has become my opinion that people make a HUGE mistake by assuming you must be a good "Artist" to create cartoons, comic book or whatever. Granted being talented couldn't hurt, but it's not a required.

However being creative or at least clever is required and you're likely more creative than you think too, but that's for another article.

So, I believe that in a cartooning more than almost any other art form, it is quite possible to use something as simple as stick figures or even dots for the artwork and still create something great.

Now one might wonder how a great cartoon could be accomplished with such simple artwork ... well I'm going to tell you how. I'm even going to show you that its been done before.

As I said before, a cartoon and really all art for that matter, is as much about communicating an idea, a thought, an emotion or a story as it is about creating a fantastic image. This is not to say that having good art doesn't help, but again great art is not absolutly required to make the story you're telling work. So if great artwork isn't required, then neither are fabulous drawing skills.

Now a story is just that, a story and you can tell a story even in the simplest illustrative forms with or without words even and people will still understand it.

As I expand this article I'll include examples of how simple artwork can work as well as highly detailed illustrative artwork, but for now I'm going to start with this little guy here

Yes, the good old smiley face, if you can draw this little guy and I'm sure you can ... well then you can create a cartoon.

OK, maybe you might not make a living as a cartoonist with just a smiley face, but you can make a cartoon or even a cartoon strip. You see, the smiley face for all its simplicity has some amazing features.

It's first amazing feature is that nearly everyone can draw it! Why?, because it's simple.

The second amazing feature being that three dots and a line is an image ingrained in the human mind as face. This was true long before this simple graphic was everywhere and even a one year old child will recognize it as a face.

The third amazing feature is it's so memorable and so recognizable as to what it means, it's become an everyday fixture in our lives. We see it in advertizing, it's on TV, it's on buttons, it's in our email, all as a way for us to express and communicate a way we are feeling at a given moment to someone else. Look at these and you'll recognize every emotion they are expressing     artisticly not very complicated, but the meanings are clear.

Personally, I think that's a lot for just a few dots a line and a yellow circle to do, thus making it pretty amazing in its simplicity.

So while the Mona Lisa is an extraordinary piece of art by comparison, do you really remember what she looks like in detail? I doubt it, but the Smiley Face ... that you know and remember every detail.

So that's my first example of why sometimes simpler can be better and why YOU can cartoon.

I hope to have more examples soon.

- gWebber

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