Things I Hate To Draw

Horse 2A

I like to draw cartoons. And it’s a good thing, because it’s my bread and butter.

But even someone who loves to draw, and does a fair amount of it, finds some subjects they just hate.

So here’s the stuff I hate drawing in cartoons:

  1. Horses – Mine always look like sausages with stick legs. Seriously. If I ever get a horse I’m going to name it bratwurst.
  2. Orchestras – I used to be a musician, so I get lost in the details. Plus there’s a crapload to draw. If I did these more often I’d really have to do some research to see how other cartoons have done it.
  3. Cars – I always have to go out to the driveway, take a picture of the car, and work from that. And it still looks awful. Cars today are just so roundy. Oh for the days when cars were either boxy or jet-inspired.
  4. Wolves – It’s had to find the right balance between a dog, and Wile E. Coyote.
  5. Bananas – You have to get the curves and straight lines just right, or it looks like one of my horses without the stick legs. And that little stem portion is a bugger too.
  6. Skeletons – I can do it, and make it look pretty good, but it’s gotta be a really killer skeleton joke to justify the time. I guess you could say they’re the bone of my existence. (But you shouldn’t.)
  7. Cell phones – It used to be you could show that little nub of an antenna, or the open flip phone, but now it’s difficult to tell if your character is talking into an iPhone or a bar of soap.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s some of the worst.

There’s plenty of artists that read this blog. What about you guys? What do you hate to draw?

Cartooning – Behind the Scenes

I just finished watching the 1965 Jack Lemmon film, How to Murder Your Wife

Title1

…and I thought it might be interesting, through this remarkably accurate depiction, to show how we cartoonists go about our daily lives.

First off, the studio.

Studio

Although mine is only one story, this is fairly typical of most cartoonists’ workspaces. Spiral staircases, chandeliers, priceless art…

Also, you might have noticed…

Shower

…the manservant. I don’t know how other artists start their days, but if my butler doesn’t hand me fresh-squeezed orange juice while I shower, I’m just off kilter for the rest of the day.

My wife wakes up more leisurely…

Bed

…thanks to putting on her makeup and styling her hair the night before.

After breakfast, I head to the club where I discuss my many financial and legal matters with my on-retainer lawyer while getting my morning massage.

Lawyer

After another shower, and more butler-served OJ, I get down to cartooning, dressed in clothing depicting my characters.

Shirt

Later my lingerie-clad wife dances on our piano for the evening’s dinner party guests.

Piano1

I finish the day’s cartoons, and pass out at my drawing board in my tux.

Drawing Board

All in all, a pretty standard day. Thank goodness Hollywood got cartooning right for once!

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