Political Cartoon Drawing Lesson: The Basics Part I

Change the World by Drawing Funny Pictures

You want to try political cartooning. You want to change the world. Perhaps you’re being idealistic. Then again, maybe not.

Political cartooning appeared to lose significance as newspapers struggled against on-line news. And new media tools, such as digital photography and video proliferated via internet. Who had time to draw? These new tools were faster, easier to learn, and seemed just as effective at satire and humor. Drawing took years to learn.

And then some Dutch newspaper had to go and ruin everyone’s day by publishing some crazy cartoons, because no one had a photo of Muhammad. Well, I guess there’s still some punch left in the pen.

For those wishing to learn the art of drawing political cartoons, each Saturday I’m going to take us a bit further along that journey. The lessons will alternate between practice and theory, skills and history. Some of the stuff may seem silly. I hope you try it out anyway.

So let’s start having fun at the expense of famous people who do stupid things.

These lessons will teach you how to draw and think.

I’m a bit old-school. I believe hand-drawn cartoons carry more weight than photo-manipulated satire. You have full control with a pen. Starting from the basics of stick figure and word balloon, we’ll then explore more advanced drawing techniques, like perspective, caricature, figures drawing, and more.

I’m not anti-digital media. I believe in blogs, and in their ability to give voice to expression silenced by big business, advertisers and editors. So I’ll probably cover publishing your work on-line. However, regardless of artistic skill, ideas are king. These lessons will explore ways to find and cultivate ideas, to think creatively and find your own distinct voice. And the emphasis on drawing is because you should never give up on an idea because you lack the confidence to pull it off.

Each lesson will cover basic principles, provide exercises, and give assignments that are expected to be completed before attempting the next lesson. Because this is an on-line course, at no expense to you, you’re under no obligation to do any of this. This also means that if at anytime your Art Teacher in Chains (aka IrishSpacemonk) feels discouraged from lack of class participation, he may choose to abandon the project.

Lecture aside, if you have a question on any lesson, feel free to email me, at Irishspacemonk@pixelmarx.com. I’m open to giving you feedback, or providing additional exercises that will hopefully lead you down the path of political artistic expression.

Now for the real start.

The Basics: Pencil, Paper and Ideas

Pencil, paper, and ideas are the only thing you really need to get started. The first two you can buy for a couple of bucks. You probably already have them laying around. Ideas are free but much more difficult to find. Which is why you really need to buy your paper bound in a sketchbook. I recommend a 9×12 Field Drawing Book ($14.00). This size fits my process. You’ll likely develop your own process. Experiment and find a size and paper weight that works for you.

The Importance of Ideas

While we’re on the topic of ideas, let’s just get them out of the way.

Great ideas in political cartooning are nothing until they are visually expressed in a way that another person can understand.

Political cartooning is concerned largely with humor, satire or commentary. Humor makes the message of a political cartoon approachable, giving this type of drawing its power. But drawing humor also means political cartooning isn’t just about drawing pictures. It’s about effectively pulling off the punchline. That’s why your ideas are gold. And these lessons are going to be as much about training your hands to draw as they are about training your mind to see, think and recall, and deliver.

The Pencil and Paper

Meet the lowly pencil. I’m sure you’ve been working with one since about two or three years old when you mom sat you down to draw on some scrap paper. These yellow wood sticks with pink erasers were probably fine for your circular aggressive gestures. But today, there are much better tools available.

I have my preferred pencil of choice, a SumoGrip 0.7 mechanical pencil with HB graphite lead. I like this because I never have to sharpen the pencil, it’s always ready, it’s comfortable and easy to control and it has a wonderful twist eraser that lasts a long time. What’s most important is to find a pencil you like and get used to it, because this is going to become your tongue, the tool that forms your new visual language.

For cartooning it’s important to have paper that’s smooth enough to draw in detail, but with enough tooth to take graphite well, and still hold up to the inking. As I mentioned earlier, I like to work with on a 9×12 Field Drawing Book. This is a perfect size for carrying around, and is the maximum my flatbed scanner can hold.

A note about the Field Drawing/Sketchbook: I never really understood the value of the field sketchbook until I started doing a cartoon every day. Because I have to work on the road, in various places, to meet a daily deadline, the rigid cover of the sketch book  is a life saver. It’s like having mini-drawing board with you at all times.

A note About How to Work Through Your Sketchbook: Start at the front and work toward the back. Or start at the back and work forward. Either way, work in  chronological order. And when the book is completed, get a new one. Try to work in only one sketchbook at a time. This is especially important while learning, as it gives you a chance to see growth. It’s also great for the political cartoonist. With your subject matter often tied to dates, you’ll know where to look back for an idea based on a past event.

What if I Can’t Draw

Anyone who can write can draw, as writing is basically drawing already recognized symbols that have an agreed upon meaning.

Cartooning is the exact same thing, except instead of saying nose, with the letter n o s e, you draw an “L” at a leaning forward angle, in the middle of a larger O. Simple right. So everyone can draw. While some cartoonists are satisfied with stick figures because they are appropriate for their message, I’m sure they all know how to draw, and you’ll not want to be limited to just drawing stick figures, because that would limit your ability to deliver an idea…right?

Drawing Lesson #1: The Frame

Every 2-dimensional (2D) picture is composed within a frame. Unlike the ever-changing world we see when we look around, this frame gives control and power to your drawing. It signifies what you’re going to say.

Why focus on a frame first? Well after years of art school and reading and practicing and seeing heads scrunched down to fit in this frame, or parts of a drawing strangely cut off by the edge of the paper, I think it’s a part of drawing people struggle with the most. This is likely because it’s taught last. So I’m teaching it first. This also ties directly into creating thumbnails.

So practice thinking and drawing the frame first.

Drawing Lesson #2: Learn to Love Your Thumbnails

Look at your thumb. Do a mental calculation and imagine your thumb three times bigger than it currently is. Now draw that size on a piece of paper. You should have drawn something that resembled a frame. This is your thumbnail. This is your first frame.

You should complete at least five thumbnail drawings before moving onto a larger drawing.

Again, never draw your larger drawing without doing at least five thumbnails.

(Did I just repeat myself? Oops…)

Now it’s your turn. Draw four more similar sized thumbnail frames on your page.

Drawing Lesson #3: Stick-man and Ball Inside Frame

Because this is early on, and we’ve not gone over terms like composition, line, perspective, figure drawing and all the other things that will bring your drawing to life, we’re going to draw stick-figures. The stick-figure is great for working at the thumbnail stage. Even the pros do it.
For this first example, we are going to do thumbnails with some pre-assigned objects (symbols). These objects are, a stick figure (man) and a ball (large rock, island, stone, etc). The point here is understand the importance of thumbnails (mini-drawings) not the political significance of our quest.

1. Draw the stick-man and the ball in different positions in each of your five frames. No two should be the same. Spend no more than 30 seconds on each. If your idea requires the expression of some words, place the words below the thumbnail. We’ll discuss word balloons and captions in a later lesson.

(A few minutes later.)

Ok, see, that wasn’t so hard.

Now for your assignment.

The Basic Lesson

1. Go shopping. Find a pencil you like. I recommend a mechanical pencil with HB led, and a white eraser. Also, buy a 9×12 field sketchbook. In fact, if you can afford it, buy double of everything.
2. For the next two weeks, keep this sketchbook with you at all times. Try to fill at least one page a day with frames and stick-people acting out your ideas. Write your words below the frame. It’s important to keep paper and a pencil with you at all times. You never know when an idea might come around. If you doodle outside of your sketchbook, tape that page into your sketchbook. Work through your book in chronological order.

The Advanced Lesson

1. If you’re like me, you’ll be paying attention to the news. When you see a story, for example, a giant cob web in Texas (that’s visual) make a note of it, sketch it down, play with the idea. This may never turn into an actual cartoon, and of course you’re not going to depict this giant web for the natural phenomenon that it is, but you can see the possibilities. Keep aware of visual events. And sketch them in your book.
2. Find two unrelated events, one a non-political story, the other a major news story, or political event. Draw a thumbnail depicting how these two events might come together to make a political cartoon.

Coming in 2 Weeks (Drawing Lesson #2)

1. Learn to draw shapes, and make them look real.
2. Review Your Thumbnail Drawings for further development.
3. More.