Saturday, I made a cartoon for a website that I contribute to. The genesis and creation of the panel was typical, so I’ll use it to show the process. I don’t know any other way, so this is how I proceed.

 

First, after considering how to tell the story I sketch in the main elements.

I may add a few elements and then erase them until I get the dynamics it needs. Here, I added a car washing brush with a long handle near the bucket, but when I finally decided how the hose would be drawn in the brush was unneeded and went away. 

 

Next, I defined each of the main elements. Like sculpture, it’s a matter of adding then subtraction. I use the same line tool for most of this, just with different colors, sizes, and opacities.

 

Were I to do the build on paper with pencils, there would be a very erased first draft and it would be pretty ugly. I’d still get where I need to go, but  with more time, materials, and frustration.

 

One thing that’s different about the cartoons is the lack of modeling.

Frustrating as it is to do it entirely from trial and error, it works. I don’t need to do photo shoots or risk being locked into something different than imagined. For the next frame I needed to adopt a setting that would support the concept but not take over. I wanted to put a lush garden or a terraced flower wall, but instead opted for simplicity.

 

At least for now. I’m a native Pacific Northwesterner, so I stuck with what I know: forest.

 

My easy choices were rhododenderons, ferns, trillium, or dogwood. I went with ferns and trillium.

 

After some adjustments all around, the cartoon was ready for color, which would help in the decisions about how to define the space.

 

This made it easier to visualize ways to keep the image light and cartoony but still keep depth and believability. I started with a light green foreground and simplified bushes in the distance.It occured to me that I could idealize the grounds in this way. Ferns gave some close greenery as opposed to the fluffy blobs of far away plants.

 

I’m pleased at the way the girl’s face has been rendered. Except for the way I drew color into the skin, it’s exactly what I envisioned.

 

 

The banding allowed me to stage the girl so she was perhaps not on pavement, but the car was clearly on the grass. That way  I don’t go contrary to any city rules against washing the car on the driveway.

 

Finally I added the spray and trillium flowers and did some other refinements. 

 

 

This cartoon is designed to be printed poster size and – oops. I see a defect I must remedy! I expect that some fine adjustments will be made but I’ve run out of daylight.

 

The caption will read,

“You can water that thing all you want, but it’ll never grow any bigger!”