Method to the Biweekly Maddness

Contrary to popular opinion, I don't plan out my cartoons days in advance, though I do turn over myriad potential ideas in my mind beforehand.

Fig. 1: The rough

Unless I'm visited by a great idea, the topical nature of the profession and my own lassitude typically conspire to produce a largely informal system of last-minute decisions. Ideas that fail to immediately commend themselves to my fancy are discarded straightaway; more interesting ones become roughs and are cast aside if they prove unsatisfactory on paper.

Fig. 2: Digital ink (8.5" x 11")

A successful idea will get inked and colored; the physical production process takes on average two to three hours to complete, depending on the complexity of the idea and how many on-site revisions I make. The inked and colored cartoon is drawn big so that I can scale it down later, which ensures high image definition. It's also easier to work on a large canvas because it affords the artist an opportunity to be confident with his art. That is, it gives him room for expression and emotion.

Fig. 3a: Colors

I only use one color layer for editorial cartoons; more elaborate works will necessarily demand a commensurately greater sum of layers.

Fig. 3b: Colors & shading (a single transparent layer of black paint)

Shading's not totally necessary, but I feel compelled to do so because it lends each cartoon more depth. It also just looks better.

Fig. 3c: Background and caption (scaled to 4.75" x 5.12" to fit panel frame)

Altogether, it takes six to eight hours to go from prototype to completed image.