Have you ever wondered how to tweak a cartoon simply and change the story it tells? I find this opens up so many new cartoon storytelling possibilities that I’m a little hyper-focused on it at the moment.
As artists engaged in cartoon storytelling, setting the scene and putting in the details is something we all get to do. A decent cartoon is much more than a mere picture; every good cartoon tells a story. They might be simple stories — some form of commentary, a quirky word-play to entertain or an interesting visual example of the point you’re trying to communicate, but they are stories nonetheless. Every cartoon has a point.
So what are the obvious things that dictate the story told by your cartoon?
Off the top of my head, these four spring to mind:
- the setting,
- the body language of the character/s,
- their expressions and of course
- the ambience.
Let’s walk through a simple black and white sketch example
What’s the setting, the body language, the expression and the ambiance telling you here?
To me this scene suggests the possibility of a hospital ward: we have a prone, rather sad-looking character lying in bed, plain white walls, a utilitarian lampshade and a vase of flowers to cheer up the bed-ridden patient. It’s day-time because the whole scene is blindingly bright and white (also contributing to the well-scrubbed, hygienic hospital ambience ?)
Now, watch how two tiny tweaks change everything
I chose ambience and facial expression as the areas I would change, because I could do that without major re-drawing. Do you see how I’ve ‘flipped a switch’ in more ways than one?
Suddenly, it’s night-time. The focus has shifted from being general and now we are zeroed in on the character’s face, which now shows a soft smile as she gazes on her bouquet of flowers.
There’s much less of a sterile, hospital atmosphere, instead it feels homely and comfortable.
At this point you may be thinking “ But I can’t draw! Cartoon storytelling is not for me!”
That might be so, but did you know that cartooning is a learnable skill? And that you can communicate very effectively through extremely simple illustrations that are little more than stick figures?
We are all wired to communicate in pictures, but we’re trained out of it from the day we leave pre-school. Luckily we can turn back the clock and regain our forgotten skills.
When did you last scribble a few lines of the back of an envelope?
Or draw a diagram on a napkin to explain what you really meant?
Most of us have, at some point.
And all of us can learn to do more and better when it comes to communicating via drawing.
There are a multitude of simple drawing and cartooning tips on my blog
Work your way through them. And if you have a specific ‘something’ that keeps tripping you up, drop me a line. I’m happy to help ?.