How Did You Start Out ?

[JohnT]

Hi Guys,

Just wondering how different people started out in the cartooning industry, choosing it as a career?
Being a new cartoonist myself, and struggling to get my first "gig" , i am hoping for any pointers which may help me break through, and
actually get some work. I don't expect miracles, and i do realise that getting a name for myself as a professional cartoonist/illustrator is
not going to happen overnight, but i am hoping for some feedback on where would be a good starting point?
I have my website up and running, and have been e-mailing like crazy , to a mulltitude of diffrent companies/media outlets, offering my services,
but alas, no positive replies as yet.
I know i have to persist, and i intend to, but just thought i'd touch base with you guys, to ask for any hints or tips.
I see there lots of great cartoonists out there, and while everyone differs in style, i am starting to think my work is just not good enough
to be competitive!
Alternatively, i could just be barking up the wrong trees, and sending my expressions of interest to all the wrong people.
Thats why i am asking for any helpful advice.
I look forward to reading your responses, and thank you in advance for your help

cheers
John
www.tayloredtoons.com.au

[Anton Emdin]

Hi John,

I started out by doing freebies for friends and family, and then very cheap work for the local free press mags and papers. It's a good way to get experience working with deadlines and clients, hone your skills, and build up your portfolio.

It takes years to get a name for yourself. It's the old 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration story.

Good luck, John. Let us know when you get your first gig (paying or not!).


Cheers,
Anton
--

[JohnT]

Hey Anton,

Thanks for the reply. Good to get a bit of insight from the professionals.
I scored my first job early this month, and although it was only a small job, it was satisfying to at least get one paying gig.
It was of a wombat in a tutu, posing in a ballerina stance, and was used on a wine label for a pomotional wine.
The clients seemed happy with the result, and that was the main thing !
I only charged $100 for the picture, which, after the hours spent doing roughs, trying to get it to look like a wombat (wombats are not exactly packed with distinguishing features!!), and colouring it, equated to about $10 per hour . The time spent doing the cartoon didn't worry me though, it was all good experience.
Just hoping that i can get sme more work, as it IS frustrating e-mailing companies,magazines,newspapers,card manufacturers etc etc and getting no replies.
Maybe my marketing strategy needs improvement, but an extremely tight budget doesn't help.
Any furher help would be much appreciated.

Cheers

John

[Roger Fletcher]

Congratulations, John!
The first gig is always the hardest. For some reason, one of the first questions clients ask is, "Have you done any work before?"
Now you can say, "Yes, mostly advertising and promotional stuff!" and you won't have told a lie!

Seriously - good on you - now go out and get some more.

[Christophe Granet]

Well done John!

[JohnT]

hey guys,
Thanks for the feedback, and the words of encouragement. Its always good to hear from others in the same "industry".
I got another job to do, a 2 person caricature. Its a private job for a couple getting married. They want to print up
some stubbie coolers for their guests, as a memento for the big day, so decided to have a caricature of themselves on it.
It should be a challnging job for me, as caricatures are definitely not my strong point!
I have decided to not exaggerate their features too much though, because as you all probably know, people can be vey touchy
about their appearance. And seeing as though its for their wedding day, i am sure they don't want to be depicted as elongated freaks haha
anyhow, i will let you know how it goes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,hopefully they are pleased with the outcome.
PS?:Any professional caricaturists, feel free to drop me some tips on how to do them!
I would love to hear some tips on how to get them looking good (all of my attempts DO look like people, just not necessarily the peope they are meant to be lol)

cheers
John T

[Luke Watson]

HIi John,

If you want some feedback, just post a pic of the couple and a draft and hopefully we can help you on your way.

Cheers,

Luke

[JohnT]

hey guys,
Here's my effort so far. i know the pictures look more like sketches, than caricatures, but a i said in my previous post, i don't want to exaggerate the feaures too much.
the couple haven't chosen a theme as yet, or how they want to be dressed etc, so i just worked on the heads for now, and once i do some more touch-ups, i will send the images to them for approval. I am not altogether happy with the images, although they look like people, i don't think they exactly look like the people in the photos!
An feedback/criticism/advice would be helpful. By the way, i use a WACOM GRAPHICS TABLET for my drawing, coupled with Sketchbook Pro.
cheers
John T

PS: LUKE, i just looked at your site an your work, and am embarrassed to put these images up after seeing the amazing work you do !!
How do yo get your image looking so life-like?
I think that i am too focused on trying to get details correct, and am not lettng my imagination take over, so my images look "stagnent".
Today i am goingto do a new caricature, of the same people, but i am going to be a bit more creative. Hopefully this will produce a more lively image.If it doesn't, then i will just give up lol

http://www.tayloredtoons.com.au

[Luke Watson]

Hi John,

They haven't given you much to work with in the photos! That always makes it hard. Don't be afraid to push the exaggeration in your first draft, that way you get to practice and see what works. If the clients don't like the way it's looking then you can go back to the more cartoon portrait look, no harm done. But when you get the exaggeration right the clients will love it and you can go from there.

In terms of the draft you've done, John, it's getting there but have a look at the features that define them. Firstly I'd shrink the eyes down, as they're not that much of a feature with either subject. If you want to give the woman more cartoony/pretty eyes, keep them large but make them a bit more round, not as definitely almond shaped.

Next the guy has a good old fashioned fat head, so don't be afraid to give him a big jaw, and move the chin up into his head a bit to give the illusion of a bit of double chin. Also he's got great nostrils, so use them, as they'll help with the likeness. The woman has a bulbous nose end (no time to be sensitve about it) so use that too. lastly look at any defining wrinkles etc that can be used subtlely to add to the likeness and then the hair.

I hate drawing hair, it's hard, but two of the things I learn't straight away in caricaturing is that getting the hair right on a woman can make the drawing (so make it big a swoopy like it is in the photo), the other is that if you stuff it up it can ruin it. Maybe that's one point made two ways, but any who you get the idea.

Below is a quick draft of what I would use as a working prelim for their caricature. It's by no means perfect and as I coloured I might make a couple of changes, plus the client might not like it either, but I'm happy with the direction it's taking and that's the main thing.

Cheers,

Luke

[JohnT]

hey again guys,
ok Luke, you have put me to shame with ur quick sketch.
here is my revamped attempt, which i am still not happy with. Caricatures definitely are not my thing.
I am just about ready to give up !!
cheers
John

[Luke Watson]

Hi John,

Never give up! It's looking better and better, I say the eyes are still a little big, but that might just be my tendency.

Any way, below is one of my caricatures from when I started about 5 years ago. It took me soooooo many revisions to get a likeness and it's still pretty rough. Also I used to practice by tracing the faces to get an idea of their head shape and then push and pull the features to get a caricature shape that I liked and then I used that as a reference to base my prelims. It sounds like a cheat, but it gave me a much better understanding of the underlying structure of the face and how all the elements work with one another.



Keep going mate.

[Christophe Granet]

John,
Are you an ACA Member?
If not, join, you'll get access also to the "Members" part of this forum which is full of helpful stuff and amazing people like Luke willing to share their knowledge...
Well worth it. I did it a few years ago when I didn't have a clue about cartooning and the amount of help and support I've had from other ACA Members has been really helpful...
The ACA has also a cartooning conference in Melbourne in November where, for example, a Master caricaturist will give a talk and also a course I think...

[JohnT]

Hey Guys,

OK, this i mylast attempt, i am a bit happier with it, ad sent it to the client for approval.
Let me know what you think.
I let the client know thati took it easy on exaggerating the features,so if he wants more animation put into it,i will change it.

PS: no, i haven't joined the ACA as a full member yet, purely because i can't afford it at the moment
I know it would be a big help to me to join, and as soon as i can scrpe together the cash, i will !

[Luke Watson]

Now we're talking, John!

[Roger Fletcher]

John,
You're getting some really good advice from a sensational caricaturist in Luke.
He gave me some really valuable advice, too, just recently, and I really appreciated it.

My only contribution is to say that in complimentary caricatures, quite often less is more. Don't feel you have to outline every tooth - it can look coarse - just give the basic shape and a hint of texture.
Same with girls' eyebrows and noses. A hint of the shape rather than a drawing of the entire construction is often better.
And the best advice I ever got about caricature - a line on a man's face adds character - a line on a woman's face adds age - so use your lines sparingly when drawing women.

Go for it.

[JohnT]

Hey again guys,
The feedback i am getting from you guys is great, and its definitely helping me out. I appreciate it greatly.
I sent the pictures above to the client, and he is very happy with them , so now al he has to do, is give me a theme, and i can complete the work.
I tink the pics above still need some work/cleaing up/tweaking, and i know they are far from perfect, but they are just the "roughs" to get the clients
approval. I am just hoping when he comes backto me with a theme, he doesn't want totally different loks, or positioning of the heads, otherwise that will mean
another total redraw!! lol
In any case, if that happens, i will look at it as good experience in drawing caricatures, which i know i need
Its also goo experience using the WACOM tablet, as i only bought it earlier this year, and while its a great product, it doshave a totally different feel to tradiional pecil and paper. So its all a learning curve for me.Lets just hope i progressively get better.
once i get the final caricatues done, i will post them under this topic, so you can see the end result.
thanks heaps to Luke for his guidance and advice, and all others that gave me support and encouragement too. Its always good to have comments
cheers
John T

[Roger Fletcher]

jt0001.jpg (24.55 KiB) Viewed 14 times

John,
Here's a quick example of how to just hint the teeth - it's a glamour thing. Look at the works of the great pinup artists like Vargas to really see how they do it.