How long have you been drawing cartoons?

I started drawing cartoons twenty years ago and had a six month period where i got stuck into it but working shift work and having 5 kids under 6 really made it difficult to get some continuity in it.

What made you start to think more seriously about making some money out of it?

In the last six to twelve months me and my wife thought it would be great to travel around Australia in a winnebego and do itinerant work along the way, but i remembered when i used to draw in the younger days and thought it would be great if i could make money out of it as we travelled.

Have you done any formal training? If so, what and where?

I took a correspondence course years ago in cartooning through a group called ics in melbourne, but got a bit dissallusioned with it because everything i sent in got top marks even though i knew i wasn’t that good.

Where was your first cartoon published?

My first cartoon was published in the now defunct Australasian Post, i remember they were great supporters of cartoons with a double spread of cartoons in the middle pages and others spread throughout the publication.

What materials do you use to create your work?

I use felt tip pens for my drawings and like the pigmented type because of the depth of black they produce, when it comes to sending cartoons to publications i think they should reproduce more effectively

What hardware and software do you use?

I use photoshop elements and corel painter to finish my cartoons, my knowledge is fairly basic but as i’ve said i’m learning all the time through trial and error basically, though the tips on chewingpencils are fantastic

From where so you draw your inspiration?

I am inspired by other cartoonists most notably Randy McIllwaine and Mike Baldwin

What are some of the resources you’ve found most helpful?

Chewingpencils is probably my best resource i find it very helpfull when just starting out.

Matt: It didn’t cost me anything to have Peter say that!! Really…

What is the best piece of advice you have EVER been given? The worst?

I don’t really take any notice of advice unless it’s from other cartoonists who have been there done that. I have already received some good information from people like Dan Rosandich about how to get noticed on the net.

Take us through the process you use to create one of your drawings:

To draw a cartoon i first sketch out the scenario on a piece of office paper, tweaking it as i go to get the right effect and wording.

Then i scan into photoshop, clean it up with the eraser tool and save it as a tiff file. From there i use corel painter to color it and put in the wording before resizing and then saving it to the web

How long does it generally take to create one piece?

Depending on whether i’m drawing a strip or a single panel cartoon, it can take anywhere from an hour to three or four. to finish a drawing.

Usually i’m doing three or four things in the meantime like watching a show or cooking dinner

What do you find the hardest to draw?

I haven’t struck too many things i can’t draw as yet, usually with a bit of practice i can create something passable though i’m hopeless at caricatures.

What do your friends and family think of you being a cartoonist?

Family and friends think it’s good that I do what I do, my wife gets a laugh out of my cartoons but my friends don’t think i’m funny at all lol.

What do you think is the best part about being a cartoonist?

Definately the self satisfaction when you come up with an idea you think is funny, and then complete the cartoon.

What has been the standout post on Chewing Pencils for you? Why?

The post that has helped me the most i guess is the one about using photoshop and how to finish your work, and even though i’m still struggling with the layers part i know by going back over the instructions i’ll be able to produce more professional work in the future.

I think Peter means this post, even though it’s about Painter, not Photoshop.

Anything else you’d like to say….

It’s been good to get other cartoonists insights through the friday feature artist and i enjoy checking out their work online as well.

I’ll send you the questions. You send me the answers. You’ll appear on Chewing Pencils and be launched towards fame and fortune.

Maybe…

Of course, drawing is part of what we do, but like everybody who works for themselves, if you’ve no idea about running a business, you won’t make any money. In fact, it could cost you dearly.

Sadly, the business side of cartooning is where many aspiring cartoonists give up on their dream because it all seems far to complicated. Rest easy - while it’s difficult to navigate through in the early days, you’ll quickly find it second nature. Before you know it, you’ll be a hard nosed, high flying cartoon business executive!

Here’s what I had to say when I first wrote about the ‘business’ of cartooning:

Tip 7:- Become business minded (Part 1).

The difference between a hobby and a profession is pretty simple. The professional has a goal of making money from what they do. I don’t mean to sound like some greedy capitalist, nor do I wish to belittle those who produce wonderful works of art for no remuneration. All I am saying is that a professional artist (cartoonist or otherwise) supports their family and lifestyle from the money they earn from their work.

For those rare few that are employed to draw full-time, the pay check comes in every week and all is good. For the 90% or so of cartoonists who are freelance, we need to rely on a number of skills to obtain new clients, keep current clients satisfied and encourage previous clients to call on us for repeat work. This means we put down our pencils, take off our pyjama’s, put on a suit and start thinking like a business person.

The business side of cartooning and illustration is where most artists encounter hurdles that they find impossible to jump. Indeed, the move from drawing for fun into the ‘wheeling and dealing’ world of price negotiations, contracts and deadlines is very daunting. And when the rejection letters start to arrive by the truck load the temptation to give it all away becomes great.

Like any job however, once you get into the swing of things and develop a greater business sense, you will find that the hurdles become a bit easier to jump.

The tips below relate mainly to the type of job where a client asks you to produce a particular piece of work for them. Often, however, a cartoonist will submit some cartoons directly to an editor in the hope that they will like what they see and then publish them. This is part of being a freelance cartoonist, but the business side of things still apply. You have a better chance of being published by an editor who recognize your name and work than by a stranger.

Anyway, here are a few tips to help you become more business minded.

1. Before doing anything, make sure you are set up properly to comply with your tax system. In Australia, you need to have what is called an ABN (Australian Business Number) to operate. This applies to corporate giants and freelance cartoonists alike. Many clients would have nothing to do with me if I didn’t have my own ABN, so it was important, before anything else, to have this set up properly. Yes, it has meant lots of reporting and electronic paper work, but it is essential to get this right from the very beginning.

Make sure you know what the tax laws are for your region and get set up NOW!

2. Put together a business plan. A freelance cartoonist doesn’t have a board of directors to report to, shareholders to be accountable to or annual reports they have to write. Nevertheless, it is worth putting some effort into putting together some type of business plan that sets a few goals for the future. Goals like the number of cartoons you want to draw per week; the number of submissions you want to make; the amount of income you want to generate; and how you will invest some of the money you make on expanding your business. Be realistic (you’re not going to make a million in your first year) but at the same time, recognize that the plan is not set in concrete. It acts as something that will keep your mind attentive to more than just the drawing side of the business.

3. Become conversant with copyright law. Unfortunately, the area of copyright is misunderstood by many cartoonists and even more clients. I’ve posted an article that outlines copyright law for cartoonists here, but also try to keep abreast of what is happening in the legal system when it comes to copyright. As I type this, there is a debate happening in the US about the copyright of art works to which no artist/author can be linked - so called “orphaned works.” It does not bode well for artists and will require different strategies for producing cartoons and illustrations should it get through. These are the sort of things all professional need to stay on top of.

4. Market yourself. This is where you start letting people know you are around. Emails, phone calls, visits are all good. Submit your website to the search engines and increase your ranking. Pay for some advertising if you can. (Google, yellow pages etc). Produce your own stationery, making sure your website and email address appears on all your letterheads and business cards. Approach the right people directly about doing some work for them. Find out the name of the editor etc.

5. Set up a standard contract. Some clients will have contracts that are more or less non-negotiable. Only sign these if you have read and understood it thoroughly and seek some legal advice if you are not sure. A standard contract should be used for all other clients, without exception, that includes what is expected of you and the client. Make sure it mentions the payment terms and in no instance should it hand over copyright. Ensure that the client is clear that you retain the rights to your work, they are simply buying a license to use it. This means you can negotiate an extra fee for the same work if the client wants to reuse it down the track.

6. Communicate well. Right from the very beginning, let your client know that they can be honest and upfront with you about how the job is going. Ask as many questions as you can about the job and NEVER assume anything - even if they say, “it’s up to you.” Give your client some options and make them choose.

Good, open communication makes the business relationship run smoothly and gives it a better chance for a long life.

7. Part of communicating well is to let your client see the progress you are making. At the end of each day or week, post some drafts of what you are doing on a private website so they can see the project taking shape. This gives the client an opportunity to respond early in the project should they want to change anything. You’ll be amazed at how much some clients look forward to seeing each update of your work!

In Tip 8, I will continue the theme of being a business minded cartoonist or illustrator and look at how much to charge, keeping to deadlines, invoices and receipts, and debt collection.

Some of the jobs that have come through my site have attracted a five figure fee. Other have made me smaller amounts, but have given me a steady, ongoing stream of income. Over the years, the website has got me jobs that earnt enough to pay off my house.

And this is as a very part time, freelancer.

This week I had another reminder about just how important the website is for my business. I received a phone call on Friday from a lady named Leonie who was looking to interview a cartoonist for her radio show. She had found my site, liked my stuff and gave me a call. We chatted for a while and made a time for her to call me back and do a live interview on the radio (Hi to all ABC West listeners that might be visiting!).

The interview lasted about ten minutes and we chatted about much of the stuff I talk about here on Chewing Pencils. She thanked me for my time and the interview ended. I enjoyed it and thought it was nothing more than a bit of fun.

I had mentioned my site during the interview and though I might get a few extra visitors that day, but not much more. I was disappointed to see that the level of traffic hardly changed at all! However, I did receive two emails out of the blue from potential new clients. I’m still waiting to hear if they have accepted my quotes, but if all goes well, these two jobs will earn me around $2000 - $3000.

ALL OF THIS HAPPENED BECAUSE OF MY WEBSITE!!!!!

So if you haven’t got one already, get onto it. You’re missing out on potential business that could earn you some extra dollars to help you pay for your petrol bill!

In the coming weeks we I’ll be running another Group Drawing Project that will require you to have your own website to participate. It doesn’t have to be elaborate (mine isn’t) but if you’d like the chance to win the prize on offer, you’ll need to find your place on the world wide web.

I’ll say this just once - if you want to make some money from your cartoons, forget about the newspapers!! Yes, the papers are a potential market, perhaps the most obvious market, but the chances of you ending up there are slim.

Sorry to be so blunt, but they are!

So while you aim for fame and fortune in the papers, remember you still have to eat. There’s plenty of money in other areas, which is what this post is all about…

Since first writing this post, one of the niche markets that I’ve seen cartoonists trying to break into is the mobile phone market. Now that screens have such high resolution and the phones can do everything but change your underwear, there is potential for your work to not only be displayed on a person’s fridge, but on their phone as well. I’ve never got around to exploring it at much depth, so I’d be interested to hear if anyone has had any success.

Anyway, here’s what I had to say about looking for your niche in the cartoon world:

When I am introduced as a cartoonist to new people, often they will ask what newspaper I work for. Despite the rapid expansion of markets for cartoons to appear in, it seems that the newspapers are still “the place” where people most expect to see your work. If you’re in the paper, then you must be a real cartoonist. I did work for one of the local papers for about a year early on in my career. They weren’t great to work for as a freelance artist and the pay was terrible. But at the time, I thought that this should be my ultimate goal.

The newspaper is, without doubt, the most obvious and well known of all the cartoon markets. Spot gags, editorial cartoons and comic strips have featured in the paper for as long as we can all remember, and most of the famous cartoonists are all newspaper based. It’s an honourable goal to aim for this type of work. But if you’re wanting to make some money from drawing cartoons, holding out for that newspaper job will see you and your family go hungry.

The reality is that full-time positions with newspapers are rare and only become available when the present cartoonist is head-hunted, retires or dies. One noted US cartoonist suggested that a person has more chance of becoming a top NBA basketballer than becoming an editorial cartoonist in America. Ouch! There is some good news though. There are plenty of cartoonists, who make a decent living, that never have their work published in a newspaper. They have realised that to achieve and maintain high levels of income means looking for niche markets and exploiting them (in a nice way) to their full potential.

Amongst other things, the dictionary defines a niche as a special area of demand for a product or service. For a cartoonist, that means an area of special interest or need in our community that could benefit from the addition of cartoons. A niche could be a particular type of sport, religious belief, occupation, environmental concern, health issue, hobby, craft, finance option and so on. All of them could use cartoons and many of them will pay well to do so. Like I mentioned before, I’ve only worked for a newspaper once. In terms of income, they were the worst paying customer I’ve ever had. I’ve had far more success targetting journals, corporate training departments, consulting businesses and educational institutions. To put it in dollar terms, the amount of money I received from one cartoon for a journal, for instance, was the equivalent of nearly a dozen cartoons for the paper.

In my experience as a freelancer, it has simply been a waste of time and money spending all my energy targetting the newspapers. But with so many niche markets out there, where do you start? Here’s a few tips for helping you identify and target some niche cartoon markets:

1. While the newspaper might be limited in terms of making money from your cartoons, it is a great source for identifying niche markets. Turn to the classified section and you’ll see listed hundreds of small business - many of them could use a cartoon or two in their classified advertising. Why not contact them and suggest it?

2. Your local newsagent is a good source of information on niche markets. Take an hour or two to browse the magazine section to see what people are writing about and, by extension, what people are reading about. If there are lots of magazines on, say, horses then there is a good chance that an opportunity exists for some decent horse related cartoons to be published. Ask the owner of the newspagent if it is ok for you to write down the contact details of the publisher and editor or, if money allows, purchase a few magazines and study them at home.

3. The local library is a similar wealth of niche market information, as is your university or college library. These tend to hold more technical journals designed for a much smaller market, but you would be surprised how many journals there are.

4. It goes without saying, but the internet is perhaps the best source for identifying markets. The disadvantage it has over the newsagent or library is that you need to know what you\’re looking for in the first place. But, if you know your niche, you may be able to find a market for your horse cartoons in Brazil, New Zealand and Zambia by some well thought out searches on Google. However, you will find advertisements appearing on many sites - like Chewing Pencils. As competition for advertising space increases, these text based ads will soon move to image based ads aswell. The advertising company may be a niche market. The advertisers displaying their ads may be too. Options are everywhere on the internet!

5. The best clients in terms of dollar value are corporate businesses. Particularly big corporate business like oil and finance companies. These companies are so big that they have there own, in-house publications that are distributed to employees and customers. Take a trip into town with your folio one day, visit some of the corporate giants, and ask to see the editor of the in-house magazine. Also ask if you can speak to the manager of the training department as their training manuals will need illustrating too. The annual report could probably use a cartoon or two, and some upcoming marketing brochures might need some artwork. These types of jobs are gold to the freelancer, and much more readily available than newspaper work. The government is also a potential niche market, but I’ve always run into copyright and ownershp arguments with them - tread carefully.

6. Diversify. Just like putting all of your cartooning eggs into the newspaper basket is a bad move, so too is relying on just one niche. While one niche might supply you with a steady stream of work and income for a little while, chances are that it will only last a short time. So make sure you continually look for new and different places to get your work published.

7. Be selective. Your local knitting group is a niche market, and they might really, really want a cartoon for their newsletter that has a distribution list of twenty people. Don’t bother with clients like this - let one of their grandkids do it as a school project! Remember, that cartooning is a serious business, and while it is ok to do some charitable work from time to time, you will want to focus your efforts on clients that have the capacity to pay and pay well. Not all of them will be able to pay recommended rates, but $5 and a wooly jumper won’t pay the gas bill.

If you’ve got stories (good and bad) of unique niche markets that you’ve drawn for over the years, tell us about it by leaving a comment.

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Be my friend….please!

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Hopefully it will be resolved soon. It’s been a nightmare week for all things internet at my end - just about ready to throw the computer into the Pacific!

Arrrggghhh!

This almost goes without saying now - if you don’t have some sort of web presence, then you’re simply not going to get too far with your cartooning career.

But since I first wrote this post, the web has changed dramatically. Simple, static web pages no longer make the grade. Your web presence needs to be continually updated, informative, entertaining and interactive.

Fortunately, all of these things can still be done quite easily with online blog tools and social networking sites. Facebook, for instance, holds lots of potential for you to interact with your ‘fans’ communicate with them directly without ever having to collect their email address, and invite them to online events or real life functions. And best of all, this is all free!

So get out there and get on the web. Matt said so!

Here’s what I had to say in the original post:

The internet has had a dramatic impact on the way we conduct business, and cartooning is no different. In fact, it may be that the internet is the best thing to happen to the cartoon trade since the invention of erasures!

Here are just a few benefits the internet has contributed to the cartoonist and illustrator:

1. Access to resources. With a simple mouse click, we have access to vast databases of photos we can use for reference, online encyclopedias, other cartoonists and, of course, reference sites like Chewing Pencils!

2. New markets have opened up. I doubt any cartoonist twenty years ago would have dreamed of their work appearing in digital form on something called a ‘web page.’

3. We also have new access to traditional markets. Often print publications will have an online version that is updated on a more regular basis than the print version is published.

4. New access to global markets means that you can target potential clients in your niche regardless of whether they live next door or in the outer most parts of Mongolia.

5. On a similar note, the internet means we can potentially get exposure on a world-wide scale.

6. Self publishing is simple and inexpensive.

Some of the more traditional types might disagree with me here, but I firmly believe that a web presence is essential if you want to earn money from drawing cartoons. The first place many of your potential clients will go when looking for a cartoonist is no longer the Yellow Pages, but Google. If you have no web presence, they will never find you.

At the very least, your web site should be an online folio that contains examples of your work and your contact details. At the other end of the scale, your web site may have a shop front to sell your work, a daily blog, forums and feedback forms.

For the beginner, the idea of setting up a web site can seem a bit daunting, and while some of the jargon and technical aspects can be a bit confusing, most cartoonists with a scanner, computer and internet connection have all they need to get ‘online.’

Here are a few tips to help you establish a presence on the World Wide Web:

1. Get good, reliable access to the internet. Hopefully this is common sense, but if you’re going to be working over the net, you need to make sure your access is going to let you on whenever you want, for however long you want. Sometimes sending and receiving cartoons files can take a while, so you don’t want a plan that only lets you stay logged on for an hour at a time. Of course, broadband or adsl are the best choice, but dial-up is still acceptable if you have budget restrictions.

2. Purchase a domain name. This is the address that your web browser uses to find the site you’re after. For example, the domain name for this site is www.chewingpencils.com. Domain names need to be easily remembered and short! Often your internet service provider (isp) will allocate you 5 - 10Mb of web space, but to access it directly the domain name looks something like www.your_isp.com/~your_login/folder_name/file.htm. This is way too long, particularly if you try and print it on a business card! Instead, it is much better to purchase a domain name and have it redirected (a free service) to your isp-provided web space. Domain names can be purchased from most internet service providers or other online web companies.

When you get your domain name, make sure you have it printed on all your stationery and include it in the signature of your emails.

3. While your isp-provided web space will be adequate to start with, you will find that most don’t allow commerical web sites and have limited functionality. This is when you start shopping around for a web host - basically a company that will host your site on one of their computers. You have full responsibility for maintaining the site and they make sure it is available for everyone to see. There are many web hosting companies advertising for your business, but you need to be aware that not all are created equal. When looking for a web host for Chewing Pencils I wanted a host that regularly backed up my information, provided good technical support, gave plenty of web space and was compatible with the sort of site I was wanting to put together. In the end, I went with a company called WebbleYou - at US$5 per month and everything else I was after, it seemed like a good deal. So far I am very pleased.

Note: I’m now with a crew called HostGator as Webble You pulled out of the hosting business.

There are far more expensive options available, but generally a cartoonist won’t need that sort of package. Do keep a look out for packages where you can register your domain name and purchase some web space in the one price.

4. Software is also important. You don’t need the latest and greatest, but simply something that will let you put your site together and load it to your web space. I initially used the html function of the word-processing software that was already installed on my computer. Then I upgraded to Microsoft Frontpage, but eventually found it a bit clunky and not compatible with many hosts. Now I use Macromedia’s Dreamweaver - it’s getting on a bit now, but it lets me put my site together without needing to know any code, plus uploading it to the web is just a matter of a mouse click. Again, there are more and less expensive options, but most have trial versions you can play around with.

More recently, some cartoonists and illustrators have moved away from traditional web pages to blogs for their web sites. A blog (like Chewing Pencils) has the advantage that it can be easily updated plus it automatically builds an accessible archive of your work. Chewing Pencils uses Word Press as it’s platform. Type Pad is another well regarded platform, plus there are several others with a little less functionality. Blogs can be set up and hosted entirely for free, but paying for hosting means you have more scope to customize what your blog/site looks like.

The approach I have found most profitable is to use both. The static pages show my online folio, contact details and the like, while work in progress and other oddities are discussed on the blog.

5. Take the time to design and present your site professionally. There are people that make their living designing web sites and they all say that the right look is very important when it comes to conducting a business. If your site looks like a hobby rather than a business, potential clients will not take you seriously. It needs to be clean and uncluttered, easy to navigate and free from any “bells and whistles” that slow down loading times. It also needs to be designed for optimal search engine results using the right key words and tags. Your software should be able to help in this regard and there are plenty of free online tutorials.

6. Cartoon sites are graphic rich and thus can take a while to download. Therefore it is absolutely, postively, inescapably essential that you optimize your images for web viewing. Images should be resampled to 72dpi as monitors won’t display anymore than that anyway, and the size should be kept to roughly that of a playing card. Detailed work can be displayed at full size, but it is worth putting a link to these on your site, rather than having them open up directly on your main page.

Web surfers aren’t known for their patience. If your site takes longer than about 10-20 seconds to download on dial-up, they’ll be off looking for the next thing before you know it.

7. Include your email address in a prominent position. You need to be easily contactable through your site, so don’t make potential clients search for a way to contact you. It is generally thought of as a bad idea to put your physical address and home phone number on a web site, but a mobile number is fine.

8. Update your site often. This keeps people coming back, increasing your traffic and exposure to potential clients. Updating your site daily builds traffic and loyalty quickly, particularly if you’re good at what you do! Weekly is ok, though some people forget to come back as it is not part of their daily routine. Monthly is probably too long, but is better than not at all.

It also worth giving your site a complete overhall every 12 - 18 months. You’ll find that as you learn more about setting up and maintaining a site, you’ll get bored with what you’ve got and want to change it completely anyway!

9. If you get stuck for ideas, check out what other cartoonists are doing with their sites. Don’t copy them, but use them for inspiration.

There is so much to learn about the web that it is easy to be totally consumed by all the technicalities and forget to draw any cartoons! Make the web work for you but don’t become a slave to the web. If you’re finding something too difficult, don’t spend days trying to work it out yourself, but visit one of the many helpful forums, ring a help desk, ask another cartoonist or pay the 15 year old kid that lives next door to do it for you.

The web is one of the tools in your box to help you earn money from drawing cartoons, so use it and use it well!

NAME:MJ
AGE:44
LOCATION:Troy, Missouri
SITE URL: http://fantasticgraphics.googlepages.com/home

How long have you been drawing cartoons?

Since 1979, 29 years now. But who’s counting? Time really flies when you’re having fun.

What made you start to think more seriously about making some money out of it?

When I was approached by an editor that wanted to publish some of my work.

Have you done any formal training? If so, what and where?

No, I’m self taught. By the end of my High School years though every class on my schedule was an art class. During lunch I ended up going to all the lunch groups. As soon as this was discovered by the powers that be I was informed I couldn’t do that so I graduated early and set off into the world.

Where was your first cartoon published?

It was in a publication that ran in Missouri that has now ceased publication, The Paper Chase which ran the first FIDDLESTIX cartoon 1988. The original toons were all B/W in a one-shot format. This is where I got the name of my studio. So I use that as a tribute to that time. Paper Chase Studios.

What materials do you use to create your work?

Now there’s a long list. So I’ll break it down. I’ll use any basic materials as well as professional supplies.
Pencils: Berol 3B, General’s No. 497 5B, General’s No. 555 Layout, General’s 2H, and HB. I also use Bic mechanical pencils
Pens: Nothing fancy, Pilot V5 Precise, Pentel Micro, Bic Tuxedo Black.
Paper: Strathmore 9×12, and 14×17 300 smooth Bristol Board. I also just started using Canson 9×12 150 smooth. I’ll also use regular acid free 8.5×11 for some of my editorial cartoons.
Erasers: Factis OV12
Along with all the other basic supplies such as rulers, protractors, etc.

What hardware and software do you use?

I currently use a majority of HP products all the way down to the flatbed scanners. Software I use is Illustrator, Photoshop, I usually always revert back to using ArcSoft hardware though.

From where so you draw your inspiration?

Daily life is usually where I’ll draw my ideas from. I enjoy drawing and seeing people laugh at the characters I’ll create. My inspiration to continually draw comes from my friends over at The Panel Mammals.

What are some of the resources you’ve found most helpful?

The best resources are found from other creators, especially those that have been doing this for a lengthy period of time. I’ve also found decent methods from a few fresh start-up individual cartoonists.

What is the best piece of advice you have EVER been given? The worst?

The best advice I was ever given was to continually practice, practice, practice. The worst, believe it or not was from an editor that continually tried to change my artistic style and views. I learned later in life that they were just trying to be helpful. The best advice I’ll pass along to your readers. Practice, practice, practice, and listen to an editor you have submitted something to. These two things will greatly enhance your chances of getting material published.

Take us through the process you use to create one of your drawings:

I’ll archive ideas throughout the day on a laptop. Then later in the evening I’ll settle behind the drawing board to begin my process. First I’ll sketch out my ideas, and characters on a pre-made layout template depending on the cartoon I’m drawing. I currently have four different layouts one for each strip or one-shot. After sketching the main characters into the panel or panels, I then go back and add any shading into these characters. Then I’ll move onto backgrounds, and foregrounds. When I get the panels finished with all the main portions done, I’ll scan the cartoon to convert over to a digital process. I’ll usually finish any details that are needed on the sketch digitally first, then colorize each panel. After all this is done I’ll add any text digitally, which includes word balloons. When the cartoon is finished I upload it to my syndicate for distribution. That is a basic rundown on the process here at PC Studios for creating a cartoon.

How long does it generally take to create one piece?

I try to work in a time frame of four hours per each strip or one-shot. Sometimes it may take up to six hours though which really leaves me pushing the other strips or one-shots at times. This usually isn’t a problem as the strips are finished well in advance of publication dates. But if it is an editorial cartoon, this will cut into the weekly output of material that my editors expect on a regular basis.

What do you find the hardest to draw?

Usually it is getting a caricature of an individual to look correct so that it is an easily recognizable likeness. I also have problems with trees.

What do your friends and family think of you being a cartoonist?

They never really comment on it, except if the process is eating into the time that should be spent with family or personal time.

What do you think is the best part about being a cartoonist?

Meeting the fans at conventions or signings who enjoy reading your creations daily. I also get a kick out of the hate mail, or in person rantings of general dislike for my views that is generated by the editorial one-shots.

What has been the standout post on Chewing Pencils for you? Why?

I really enjoyed tip no.11 for aspiring cartoonists. This really made me stand back and look at what I was doing. Keeping me on my toes about not letting the cartoons consume my life. This was beginning to happen until I found that tip which made me look to streamline my tooning process to allow time for personal daily life.

Anything else you’d like to say….

Thanks for having me as a featured artist right here on Chewing Pencils. Thanks to all the various editors I have worked with. Thanks to my syndicate Newsblaze in Folsom, California (Alan you’re the Man). Thanks to The National Free Press where I’m a staff editorial cartoonist (Trevor I appreciate you running The Bad Apples strip). Thanks also to Newropeans Magazine for giving me exposure across the great pond. Thanks to Mr. Nick Anderson (The Houston Chronicle’s editorial cartoonist), and Mr. Gary Varvel (The Indianapolis Star’s editorial cartoonist) for exposure to their readers. All the guys at The Panel Mammals (Some of the best cartoonist friends I have). A HUGE THANKS to all the fans that support, and read The Bad Apples, Bushwhacked, FIDDLESTIX, and IT’S A JUNGLE OUT THERE. You fine folks are the best, Toon In and Toon On, See you in the funnies.