The above quick sketch is the first glimmer of a cartoon idea, one I thought worth developing. (Click images for larger views.) Note the early version of the caption. I’m already making edits, and by the end of the four- or five-step development process it will have changed completely. The visual concept will basically remain, but the written idea which suggested this doodle in the first place will become something else altogether.
Once I’ve settled on a visual idea, I place the doodle under a sheet of tracing paper and began to refine the image. My goal in this early stage is to clean up and sharpen the drawing without losing the vitality of the original, something I find difficult to achieve. My drawings tend to tighten up as they go from rough draft to finished art. With few exceptions, I prefer my doodles and rough sketches to the final product. Here I’m also using the side of my blue pencil lead to freely suggest a possible shading scheme for the final drawing. (I use blue pencil because I like the “feel” of it and it’s cleaner than graphite.) I’ve also indicated where my signature will go, along with a note to myself that it needs to be smaller. (It seems vanity always wants my name to be huge.) Meanwhile, still working in stage two, I’ve also begun to play with a very different idea for the caption. It’s not unusual for one of my cartoon tag lines to change by a word or two, even more—but for the caption to do a complete flip, as in this case, is rare.
Back to the drawing. I begin stage three by sliding my somewhat “refined” sketch under a fresh page of tracing paper and go over the lines, this time in ink, again trying to keep the image as spontaneous-looking as possible. My line work generally fails to express the illusion of volume and shape that I’m after so—to compensate—I add shading with a black Prismacolor pencil and use my earlier blue pencil rough as a guide. After working a bit more to sharpen the new caption, I scan the inked tracing paper image into Photoshop for the final cleanup. My goal is to make the corrections, additions, deletions, size changes, etc., appear to be as “natural,” that is as un-computer-like, as possible. For someone like me, who began in the graphics business using only pencils, ink, T-squares, triangles, etc., having a powerful computer to assist me in the final stages of what is, for the most part still a handicraft as I practice it, seems more than a little strange. But I’ve been happy to embrace this wonderful new tool, albeit in a limited way.
And finally, here’s the finished cartoon as it posted on 12/28/09. You’ll notice that I’ve decided to go with the second, “too old for me” version of the caption, which I’m convinced is the better punchline. But I could be wrong. What do you think—did I make the right choice? Please pass along your opinion in the comment section below, and include your own caption suggestion if you have one. (If it’s better than mine, assume I’ll steal it.)
To read about more hi-jinks with this particular gag cartoon, click on Randall Enos’ blog link, drawger.com/bigfoot in the sidebar and scroll down to the title “My Life on the Slanted Board, Chapter 32, ‘FAS redux’,” which posted on 2/4/10. Mr. Enos was one of my cartooning instructors at the Famous Artists Schools back in the 1960s, in fact he was the very first. Thanks to the Internet, Randy and I have recently reestablished our student-teacher relationship. It was his idea that I send him a “lesson” to critique as he might have in the old days. I agreed and suggested that he be tougher on me grade-wise than he was then. He has some interesting and insightful things to say about my effort, and he’s still very fair, but with my blessing he has also become a stern task-master. (The big lesson I learned from him this time was to be careful what I ask for.)
I’ve tried to keep this post brief, so if you have questions about the process or anything else, please use the comments tag below to ask them. And if you have some more time to play, check to see how many differences you can spot between the last two images. (I count seven, one of them being a bit subtle and easy to miss. I’ll tell you mine if you’ll tell me yours.)
Copyright © 2010 Jim Sizemore.
Loved seeing this.
I agree with you, the “admit that he’s too old for me’ is the better line. : )
Jim thanks for sharing! Love the drawing! My opinion is make the elephant’s wife a donkey and go with your original caption, but then I love political cartoons.
Or the caption could be “Opposites attract.”
Another thought. Same drawing as your original, but wife says “I wanted a husband who’d never forget our anniversary.” (My reasoning is that elephant’s memories are legendary whereas their age isn’t what I think of with elephants.)
Your first sketch was hilarious and thought you couldn’t improve upon it, but I was wrong. The end ‘toon is a scream! Enjoyed the process.
I like all three of your ideas, Karyl, especially the one with the donkey—thanks for suggesting them.
And thanks to you, too, Mrs. Winkler—and to Carlito, for your participation.
Having difficulty drawing a straight line with a ruler and pencil, I’m always fascinated by folks like yourself who seem to just “draw”. I do know, of course, that you had to have spent a zillion hours learning your trade. From where I sit; I’d have to say the effort was worth it. I do thank you for sharing your sketches and showing us how the process works. I would like to assure you though that you have nothing to fear from this quarter as far as competition is concerned—I’ll stick to the written word.
Thanks for the comment, Jake, and you’re right—I was studying to be a “drawer” before I knew what I was doing. Even as a small child there just has always been something about making lines on paper that appealed to me almost to the point of obsession. Picasso said it best, something like: “All children are artists. The problem is to remain one as we grow up.” For some reason, with or without approval, some of us just refuse to stop doodling.
Thanks so much for sharing your sketches and how your thought process works. Loved it! Personally, I would have left in the words “a little” too old for me. All of us try to minimize what are sometimes big differences and that makes it even funnier. Either way I am still laughing!
Thank you for the comment, Alice, and for taking the time to support the blog. You’re SO right about a word or two making a big difference—I’m always thinking about ways to make my captions funnier—and sometimes it involves adding a word or two, cutting a word or two, or putting a word or two back in. A rule of thumb in caption writing (and cartoon drawing, for that matter) is “less is more.” But sometimes just the opposite is true. There are certain gags that are better with a long drawn-out setup, wherein the time it take to get to the “punch” word (almost always the last word) is critical to the humor. But most of the time shorter is better. I’m still working on this one and will keep your suggestion in mind. It’s been a lot of fun to hear all the different ideas.
I do a little bit of cartooning myself. And by “little” I do mean “little”. Thus, I really enjoyed seeing your thought process. Out of curiosity, what was the size of the original doodle and is that the size you left it as after fine tuning it with the computer? Thanks again!
Thanks for your comment and question, Gary. The original doodle and the finished cartoon were both approx. 7 inches wide, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes the first sketch will be larger or smaller, but I like to finish with an image about that width because I think it displays better on most computer screens. Hope that helps.