Finding the balance between ‘hard cartooning skills’ and creative imaginings
So which one do you start with: cartooning skills, or imagination?
If you can’t draw, you can’t cartoon.
And if you can’t imagine, you can’t cartoon either.
Ideally you want to work on cartooning skills AND imagination
Both things at once! And you can do it by simply adding a little whimsy to your cartooning practice each day.
For example, if you are working on a particular cartooning skill like perspective, or copying classic cartoons or repurposing a cartoon scene you’ve found somewhere … add a touch of the utterly improbable somewhere on the page.
What might the utterly improbable look like?
How about…
– a mouse offering you a helium balloon?
– a miniature elephant doing a cartwheel?
– a dog balancing on a bone?
These ideas may sound ludicrous — and that was my intention. Nothing too real-world when working on imagination skills, please 😆!
They also may sound a bit too complex, but bear in mind they need not be accurate or polished. You just want enough sketchy pencil strokes on the page to give a sense of the idea.
The overall aim is to stir up your imagination, so don’t fret if your cartooning skills don’t measure up yet
These whimsical episodes are not about ability, they are simply a practice to build delight in thinking up odd things that make you smile.
If your cartooning skills are still basic and you can’t get the drawing to look like much, add a few words that describe what you had in mind, so that if you return to it one day (with better skills 😉 ) you can keep working on the idea.
One idea often leads to another, so be prepared to make notes of any other whimsical imaginings that come to mind and keep a list. Before you know it, you’ll have more ideas than you have time to play with them.
Good ideas seldom arise on demand
Jotting things down at any moment of the day makes sense, to build an ongoing list.
Having ideas ready to tinker with reduces roadblocks, your imagination continues to be primed and your daily sketch and play sessions will be enough fun that you keep going.
You’ll start seeing your skills improve in no time at all 🤓
