Tips for becoming a better cartoonist (1)

By Kathleen Green 

culled from

 Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 2008 

"You’re a what? Cartoonist"

What rhymes with orange? Thirteen years ago, Hilary Price liked that puzzler enough to name her comic strip after it. Today, “Rhymes With Orange” is syndicated in 150 newspapers nationwide.

Of course, cartoonists do more than choose a clever title for their work. Cartoons (which include comic strips) must convey an idea visually, often humorously, and range from single frame gags to multi panel serials to graphic novels. Hilary, like most syndicated cartoonists, writes and draws 365 different comic strips per year: black-and-white strips that run Mondays through Saturdays, and color ones on Sundays.

An idea is central to each strip. Because cartoons can be a form of social commen­tary, cartoonists need to keep up with current events. They also have to look ahead, though, to submit a week’s worth of strips at least 1 month before the cartoons appear in print. And since today’s news might be stale tomor­row, creating for the future makes timeliness tricky. “I have to be thinking not in terms of events,” says Hilary, “but in terms of trends.” 

Hilary peruses many sources, including newspapers and magazines, to get ideas from emerging trends, phrases, and words. But she also brainstorms topics in other ways. For ex­ample, she might sit down at her desk and just let her mind wander, which “helps the body tell the brain, ‘It’s time to work,’” she says. Other times, she thinks of an odd situation and works backward from that point, creating a humorous explanation for the circumstance. And she never underestimates the value of conversation. “When I’m hanging out with my friends, and we’re talking, there may be the seed of an idea in our bantering back and forth,” Hilary says.

Once she has the kernel of an idea, Hilary begins to develop it. “I’ll start asking myself questions,” she says. “‘What’s the best way to present this idea: Two people talking? One person? An animal? What’s the fastest way for the reader to get the joke?’” After she makes those choices, she starts thinking about how she will illustrate the idea using the fewest words possible. 

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