Say Hello!

See that happy fellow right there?  Today’s his birthday, because he was just born!  His name is Sean, and we’ll be hearing from him in the future.  Say hello to Sean, everybody.

Everybody Loves Cartoons

There’s a reason why newspapers hire cartoonists to get a point across.  Cartoons speak to us.  They have an uncanny ability to get points across in a simple way.

Cue The Excuses!

If your concern is that your drawing abilities aren’t up to par, then you aren’t looking at it the right way.  Drawing is a form of expression that needs practice just like any other form.  For the most part, once you develop drawing skills, they will stay with you forever, just like riding a bike.  It’s true that you will get better if you stick with it, but you’ll never have to “re-learn” how to draw once you learn.  And anyway, your cartoon doesn’t even need to be well drawn. Look at xkcd.

Maybe what you’re doing is “too serious” for a cartoon.  After all, cartoons are for children, right?  Not quite.  After all, why do so many cartoonists work for newspapers making cartoons about what’s going on in Washington D.C.?  What about Dilbert?  If there’s ever been a cartoon that’s been targeted more directly to adults, I haven’t seen it.

The choice of whether to use cartoons in your medium or not, is completely your choice, but all I am saying is that you don’t waste a potential golden opportunity without a good reason.

Where Can I Get A Cartoon?

As for how to go about getting a cartoon, the simplest way would be to find an artist that needs a platform to display his or her work.  Maybe you know someone who can draw, that doesn’t know how to use that talent?  Let them submit cartoons for your blog, or whatever medium you have.  This is a great way to form a business relationship with someone.  You join together with someone else and allow your individual strengths to come together in a way that you couldn’t do yourself.

Or perhaps you are interested in creating the cartoons yourself.  I fall into this category, as I have been using my regularly updated blog as an excuse to work on my drawing skills.  Personally, I draw my cartoons on paper, scan them with a scanner, and create the final product in Adobe Illustrator.  This is my choice of tools, but if you can’t afford Illustrator, there are other free, or less expensive programs that you can use as well.  And if you don’t have a scanner, you could also use a digital camera.  If you don’t have THAT, then tape the drawing to your screen and re-draw it that way.  There’s always something you can do to compensate for your lack of supplies!

The Power Of Pictures

In a day and age when people are so eager to write, I would like to see this enthusiasm and energy used in a way to be innovative and cutting edge.  The concept of using cartoons to supplement your writing is an idea that has not been utilized as well as it should be.  So often, bloggers and internet writers treat any pictures they will use as an afterthought.  This isn’t necessary, because pictures can be used to express things that words fail to do so.  Just look at this article!

Even if you don’t want to specifically use cartoons, at least take away from this article that the power of pictures just hasn’t been used as effectively as it could be in this day and age.  It’s time to harness this power, and use it to create something truly significant.