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Ideas
There are multiple steps to creating a cartoon. To put it simply, cartoons are drawings that convey an idea. To go from idea to completed work can be quite complex. Drawing techniques, character placement, dialogue balloons, colorizing, shading, and the technology to complete these steps. All of this works together to get that finished cartoon. Each step is multifaceted in itself, however, a cartoon can’t happen until you come up with an idea. The symbol for an idea is a light bulb turning on, and I think it is a perfect metaphor for an idea coming to life. One instant there is nothing, and the next instant there is everything. Where Do Ideas Come From?
For me, ideas come mostly at random times... but mostly when I’m not trying to think of ideas. And ideas mostly come to me at times when I can’t write them down... I believe my subconscious mind dispenses ideas at the worst possible times... I also believe I have a longstanding adversarial relationship with my subconscious mind... so I’m never surprised when I get the “best idea ever” while I’m in the shower. Over the years ideas have come to me in different ways. Here are the four main categories of how I get ideas. Sleep In my younger days most of my ideas came to me right before I fell asleep, and I mean RIGHT before. One foot in dreamland and then “POW”, I would have and idea. I would roll over and quickly sketch the idea. Some nights I might get 10 ideas... 10 times rolling over... 10 sketching ideas down. Of course, these nights were generally before a big test (I really do believe my subconscious mind hates me). Then other nights... nothing. Not one idea. I was never very good at forcing ideas... so I took them as they came. I made sure to have a pencil and paper on my night stand. In the morning I would check what I had, trying to decipher the scribbles and spelling errors from the night before.
Life I get some ideas from my life. I have a cartoon with a person trying to open a grocery store produce bag... well, that idea came from real life. I can never figure those bags out. I know there have been times when other grocery store patrons have watched me about to lose my mind trying to open a bag. Many times I have asked myself, “Just how badly do you really want those apples?” Getting ideas from life seems like a plentiful source... but I can’t say that I get many ideas this way. I still don’t find grocery bags to be funny. Real life situations tend not to be as funny when you’re experiencing them. I’m sure there is a funny idea about being stuck in traffic… But I am too busy slamming my head against the steering wheel while cursing the universe… to be open to any ideas.
Lost in Thought Lately, being lost in thought is where many of my ideas come from. Washing dishes, driving, doing laundry, and even showering... when my mind wanders I get random ideas. When my focus is away from anything detailed, I sometimes get ideas. I’ll think of something weird and then connect that to something real. Flying saucers being flown by aliens that look like tea cups. That sort of thing. I have no idea how my brain does this... but it does. I just get out of the way and let my brain do its thing and connect the ideas. Like dirt and a concrete sidewalk having a conversation. I just let it happen...
Keeping the Idea Once you have an idea for a cartoon, not losing that idea is important. I have lost many and it can be frustrating. I have always had an inner conflict about losing cartoon ideas. The pessimist in me feels ideas are finite... one day I’ll just run out of them. The optimist in me thinks, there are nothing but unlimited experiences in this beautiful world to help inspire new ideas. But the realist in me knows I’ll be fine... I’ll be able to come up with enough new ideas... but I still really hate losing them. Over the years I have come up with ways to write the ideas down to keep as many as I can. In the old days, it was pencil and paper. I kept a Pee-Chee folder filled with random sheets of paper with me at all times. The folder would move from my backpack to the night stand. I still keep my old sheets of cartoon ideas (I might need them if the pessimist in me turns out to be right!)
Years later I moved to a moleskin notebook. Something small that I could keep in my backpack. This worked pretty much the same as the Pee-Chee folder... but easier to use. I still use this method... but not as much as my latest.
The way to not lose ideas is to get them recorded as soon as possible. Since I get ideas at random times... it is not always possible to use the notebook... if I’m driving... I can’t write and drive. So finding a way to quickly keep ideas, I settled on the one thing I always have with me... the mobile phone. I tried to use the phone over the years, but I found it difficult to JUST type down ideas. I need to draw out a rough sketch as well, so future me can try and remember what the idea looked like. So typing an idea does not always work, it needs art too. Then one day, I was was upset at my phone because the position of the phone screen would change when I was texting. If I tilted the phone, the screen would flip out of texting mode and into some sort of drawing mode. For months this annoyed me. I thought it was a dumb idea... until I realized I could us this option to sketch down my cartoon ideas! So now I can quickly speak my idea into my phone... turn it landscape and sketch a quick picture... and then text myself the idea (Which is probably what the programmers meant for the app to do all along, I’m just slow on the uptake).
How to choose a funny idea? I have no clue. Seriously... I’m never sure what is funny. I’m a little too close to the joke to know if it is funny. I think there are elements that might work together, but I just don’t know if it is funny. I try and run ideas by people to see if they find it funny... and that is difficult because everyone has a different sense of humor... humor is so subjective. There will never be one idea that makes everyone laugh. Some people like puns… Some people like the pie in the face. I never try to create a cartoon to please a certain type of humor. I’m not that skilled. I create a cartoon and put it out there, and those that like it… Great! For those that might have a different taste… hopefully my next cartoon idea grabs them.
One of the most rewarding parts of cartooning is taking an idea from that first moment when the light bulb goes on (POW)...to the completion of a ‘toon. It is never fast or easy, but it is always satisfying. I try and stay open to ideas and just let them come to me. I don’t believe you can force an idea… I always imagine getting an idea is less of a hammer and anvil approach… And more of a fluid dance. I believe being open helps the creative process. Ideas will find you, whether it is real life, being lost in thought, or falling asleep. Speaking of which, it is getting late, so I’m off to bed....fingers crossed.
