AAEC - How Do I Become an Editorial Cartoonist?

• Introduction
• Where can I go to school to learn cartooning?
• How to I get started in the business?
• What tools and materials should I use?
• What other media, besides newspapers, are available to editorial cartoonist?
• How do I get a style?
• How do I get ideas?
• Where can I get more information about cartooning?

There is no single correct answer. Unless you work in electronic media (see below) keep in mind that your work will be published on newsprint. Light pencil drawings usually won’t reproduce well, Steve Sack’s drawings being a notable exception. One cartoonist may use India Ink, sable brushes or crow-quills on Strathmore vellum while another might prefer a drafting pen and Unishade Graphix paper with embedded cross-hatching that emerges when a chemical liquid is brushed on. This is the medium preferred by Mike Ramirez, Mike Luckovich and a number of others.

A handful of cartoonists work partially or exclusively on the computer. Their favorite tools are a digital tablet and Adobe Photoshop. See where Kirk Anderson and Clay Bennett have taken their art.

Some, like Nick Anderson are making effective use of color in their hand-drawn cartoons.