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In the old days, once you inked your ‘toon on paper... that was it...you were pretty much locked in. White-Out was the only way to salvage any mistakes that you might have created. Fast forward two decades and now digital advancements allow a cartoonist the ability to try anything. I create multiple versions of a cartoon just to see what I like best... and the undo button is less for mistakes, and more for just trying out an idea. If I like what I created... great! If not...undo. It is incredibly freeing to be able to do anything... until it isn’t. I’m the type of person that will overthink which socks to wear on any given day... so having unlimited creative options is (at times) really daunting to me. I break into a sweat when I enter a donut shop... so many options... I don’t want to make the wrong choice. Now when I enter a donut store, I just order maple... I don’t even look at the other donuts... I just say “maple.” Donut store employee: “Good morning sir, welcome to the donut store, how are you doing today?” Me: “Maple.” It doesn’t matter if I’m updating an older ‘toon, or working on a brand new ‘toon... I still overthink what I’m creating. Going from rough draft to final draft... the cartoon evolves. The idea that I have for the cartoon evolves. The wording in the gagline evolves. The colors... don’t get me started on the colors. Cartoons evolve as you create them. They go in different directions. Even though I have a cartoon idea, that doesn’t mean I fully know how to execute that idea. So many factors influence how a cartoon can turn out. Here are some examples of the evolution of ‘toons. From Draft to Ink
Rough Draft First Digital Ink Final Polish I feel like my cartoons start off with three distinct lives. First, rough drafts are brought into this world. The next stage is the digital inking, and it is caught between the simplicity of the rough draft and the expectation of becoming something better than itself. Finally, we end up with the polished work. I’m sure there is some sort of life metaphor to help explain this process, but I’m blanking at the moment. I don’t know why... but I always like my rough drafts better than my final versions. Maybe because the first draft is new to me... maybe because I don’t worry about small errors... they will be fixed later. The rough drafts always feel warmer to me, but they lack the polish a cartoon needs. Once I start digital inking my work, stuff gets real (as the kids say). I have to start making the hard decisions. In the cartoon above, my amusement park mouse had Mickey Mouse ears. I changed the ears to be more mouse-like in the First Digital Ink. I had to really think about the message I was working with. Was I trying to spoof Disney... or just the assorted odd mascots at any amusement park? After looking at the other characters... it wasn’t about Disney... so I changed it. (I have also heard Disney has a bad habit of suing people that use their characters or properties... so there is that too...) Lastly, I refine the work so it will be ready for coloring. At this stage the cartoon is basically done. I never feel the polish version really gets at what I created from the rough draft. There are subtle changes. Every cartoon I’ve created goes through this process. Even though it is the same basic cartoon, it changes from rough to final. Old to New I am currently updating all my old cartoons (yeah... I know I talk about it in every blog). The further I dive into my older cartoons, the more I’m realizing the older ‘toons are not ready for prime time. The idea might be there, but the art and presentation is not. My art style has changed over the years. Not by leaps and bounds, but it is easy to see the differences. The other issue I encounter is how I placed items in the cartoon.
I started the Fly Paper cartoon over from scratch. I didn't like my original layout, so I started re-working where things were placed in the comic. The speech bubble and the fly paper were my biggest problem. I was not using the space correctly. I had 3 elements that needed to work together... the speech bubble, the fly paper, and Tom. Moving some assets around gave the cartoon a better flow.
My angel flying South cartoon killed me. In the original, the wings were over-lapping another angel character. Sure... I wanted heaven to be populated with angels, but not standing so close that the main joke suffered. The angel has the urge to fly South... because he has wings. Those wings should stick out. I’m not sure what I was thinking back in 1995 about that placement... but in 2018, I can change where characters stand. The nice thing about digital is I can fix these little errors and update my cartoons.
Digital Changes
The Grocery Produce Bag was the first cartoon I ever completely created on the iPad. This was the first moment I realized just how many options I had... and the first time I realized just how much trouble I was in... This cartoon went through many changes. I liked my layout in the rough sketches, but once I started inking, the character’s face did not live up to the mental breakdown promised in the gagline. So I re-worked the mouth to bring in the gritting teeth. I felt good about the facial expression, but then the background of the cartoon hit me. I needed various apples... and bins... and shelves... grocery items... and don’t even get me started on the floor. So many choices... so many artistic directions to go in. If the iPad was a donut store.. Donut store employee: “Good morning sir, welcome to the donut store, how are you doing today?” Me: “Maple.” Donut store employee: “That is a great choice sir... but at this store you can eat each and every variety of donut you can see... and as many as you want until you pass out from sugar intoxication.” Me: nom nom nom nom nom... (then pass out from sugar intoxication) Option overload.
Going from paper to digital was like watching the first fish run out of the ocean and start living on land. Sure, the water was great... but once on the surface... there was a whole new world to explore. So many options.
My Heart Attack cartoon is a good example of having options. Once I was finished, I could not decide what to do with the sky... sunset... night... day... I ended up going with day. Even now I’m not sure that was the correct choice. The night version is growing on me... and I guess that is the point. With digital can explore as many possibilities as I want... and try to make my cartoons the best they can be. For good or bad, digital opened up options that have completely changed Zanyee. I struggle with holding onto the past and embracing the future, but there is no denying my cartoons have evolved over time... and with the help of digital... I think for the better. In Evolution: Part 2 (the next blog entry) we will look at how digital changes details, color, wording, and backgrounds.