Make Yourself A Cartoon Online: Illustrative Cartoons

For those wanting to get more ideas on how to make illustrative cartoons, read along! However, if you want to make yourself a cartoon online, Cartoony.Me would be your best bet!

In some respects, prose alone is more compelling than prose that is illustrated. A writer who encourages his reader to form his own picture doesn't need any help from an illustrator. For instance: Stephen Leacock with his marvelous line from the story, "Gertrude the Governess": "... he flung himself from the room, flung himself upon his horse and rode madly off in all directions. A cartoon could do nothing to improve this picture."

But there are times when cartoon art enhances humorous prose. Then a great cartoonist collaborates with a great comic writer, the result can be eminently satisfying to the reader. It can be satisfying to the writer as well. Perhaps among writers the most respected of the humorous illustrators is the meticulous Gluyas Williams with his beautifully designed, carefully controlled fine-line drawings. Among writers whose works were illustrated by Williams was David McCord who has reported: "All of us who have written things, which Gluyas was willing to illustrate, openly agree that we were both fortunate and privileged... If we have never let him down, he has always held us up."

An editorial or advertising illustration differs from other cartoon forms in that it does not stand by itself. Its job is to enhance a piece of copy. But it would be a mistake to assume that there is no idea behind an illustrative cartoon. The idea is as crucial as for any other cartoon. The trick is to tell the reader enough to interest him in reading the copy but not so much that he will feel that, after taking in the cartoon, he can move on to another page without stopping over.

To come up with an acceptable idea for an illustration, the cartoonist has to read the story, article, or whatever and determine both its theme and its highlights. He may decide in his illustration to summarize or he may decide to titillate. Whether for a story, article, or advertisement, an illustration should restate of amplify the headline, never work against it. And almost never should the illustration add a dimension not present in the headline.

The illustrator, unlike other cartoonists tied to standard formats, faces a wide choice of mediums and shapes. The decisions he makes in this area are almost as crucial as the decisions he makes about what in the story or article to illustrate. Illustrators in recent years have experimented with mixed mediums. Often several drawings and photographs are combined in a collage.

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