Comics and Cartoons

If you’ve ever checked out my Instagram, you’ll have an idea of what kind of art I generally make. However, I’ve actually dabbled in a lot of other styles and media as well. When I was younger, my favourite thing to draw was cartoons: stylized renderings of people and animals. Once I'd started making cartoons, I started designing characters and storylines, which eventually prompted me to start writing them into comics.

One of my biggest influences when it came to cartoons was the work of Raina Telgemeier, a well-known comic book author. She is the author of some of my favourite childhood books, and her comic style heavily influenced mine. Telgemeier has written 5 books of her own (Smile, Sisters, Guts, Ghosts, and Drama) and published a comic adaptation of the

Babysitters’ Club series. I even attended one of her book signings! Raina's art style is simple but expressive, something I tried to incorporate into my drawings. I also studied specific techniques she uses in drawing faces.

Here are a few samples of sketches from a long form comic strip I created when I was 8. I've lost many of my old sketchbooks with finished comics in them, but I still have the preliminary sketches. The influence of Raina Telgemeier’s work is pretty obvious in some places (hint: the way I drew noses). I learned a lot about facial shapes and expressions from her drawings. You can see that I played around with exaggerated facial features- like drawing eyebrows above the head!

I also used a lot of cartooning tutorial books. I had 2 of Christopher Hart’s books: The Cartoonist’s Book of Drawing Animals and the Humongous Book of Cartooning. These ones taught me a lot of cartooning techniques and tricks. Another book I used a lot was Drawing Comics Lab by Robyn Chapman. This was a great book that I would recommend to anyone interested in writing comics. It listed about 50 different exercises known as “labs” which taught me foundational storytelling skills. Storytelling is important in any type of art, not just comic strips.

That’s what really drew me to comics: the allure of telling a story through pictures! I loved reading, writing, and art, and comics were the perfect way to combine all three. I also found comic strips to be more engaging and interesting for others than regular art. This is because of the stories they tell. Comics were also fun for me because I could make hundreds of short, quick drawings instead of having to focus on one pose or setting for too long.

You might be wondering why I've mostly stopped making cartoony art. Eventually, I just grew out of it. Interests, including art-related ones, fluctuate and change constantly. I decided to move on to different media like paint and marker. This was partly because of a desire to spend more time on one piece, to really bring out my artistic skills in a new way. In the process I lost my interest in cartooning and comics. It’s something I would love to revisit in the future, though!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article. Remember, I release new ones every week. Before you go, don't forget to check out my shop!