Cartooning with Kirk O'Brien

Cartoonist, from Wikipedia:
"A cartoonist (also comic strip creator) is a visual artist who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is often created for entertainment, political commentary, or advertising. Cartoonists may work in many formats, such as animation, booklets, comic strips, comic books, editorial cartoons, graphic novels, manuals, gag cartoons, graphic design, illustrations, storyboards, posters, shirts, books, advertisements, greeting cards, magazines, newspapers, and video game packaging."

Guest artist and local cartoonist, Kirk O'Brien, will teach you the art of cartooning! Pay close attention to his lessons because in addition to teaching you some new things, he will also reinforce concepts that we have been covering in class:

• Figure drawing (even if your figure is non-human)(canons of proportion)
• Composition (dynamic vs. static; the importance of space and continuity)
• Content (what's your story about? tell it in a sequential manner)
• Idea generation (dump the first ideas to get to the best - draw a lot)
• Line quality (use line weight to accentuate action and dimension)
• AND MORE! What connections/similarities/differences do you notice?

Select Art 1 cartoons from years past:

Helpful hints from Pixar and storyboard artist Emma Coats: 

1. You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
   
2. You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.
   
3. Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about till you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.
4. Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
5. Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.
6. What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?
7. Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.
8. Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.
9. When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.
10. Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.
11. Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.
12. Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.
13. Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.
    
14. Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.
15. If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.
16. What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.
17. No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.
18. You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.
19. Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.
20. Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?
21. You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?
22. What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

CURIOUS? Here's more information:

• Tutorial - How to Draw a Cartoon Body
• Krazy Kat - called one of the most original and influential comic strips
• Jim Lee - a comic artist who attended Princeton University and majored in psychology, with the intention of becoming a medical doctor...