Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. Traditionally much of this work was, and still is, humorous, and is intended primarily for entertainment purposes. Many traditional print cartoons are of the single-panel variety, and are published in print media of various kinds, for example, in magazines such as The New Yorker and Punch.
The term cartoonist is also applied to those who create more serious editorial or political cartoons, as well as those who create comic strips, comic books and graphic novels.
The word is sometimes used for those who create animated cartoons including manga, although a person who designs the visual part of animated cartoons is perhaps more commonly referred to as an animator.
Process
A cartoonist.
History
Such strips are distributed by syndicates such as the Universal Press Syndicate, United Media or the King Feaop changing this info tures syndicate. The Sunday cartoon strips like Garfield , which are colored, often go to a coloring company such as American Color before they are published. Comic strips can also be collected in books.
Some comic strip creators publish in the alternative press or on the internet. Comic-strip artists may also sometimes work in book-length form, creating graphic novels.
Large comic book publishers (such as Marvel or DC) utilize teams of cartoonists to produce the art (typically separating pencil work, inking, and lettering while the color is added digitally by colorists). When a consistent artistic style is wanted among different cartoonists (such as Archie Comics), character model sheets may be used as reference.
Calum MacKenzie in his preface to the exhibition catalogue The Scottish Cartoonists published by the Glasgow Print Studio Gallery (1979) defined the selection criteria as: "the difference between a cartoonist and an illustrator was the same as the difference between a comedian and a comedy actor - the former both deliver their own lines and take full responsibility for them, the latter could always hide behind the fact that it was not his entire creation."
Perhaps the most famous animator is Walt Disney who is known for creating Mickey Mouse, probably the most recognizable and enduring cartoon character.
Genre
Cartoonists working for the print media create single panel gag cartoons and comic strips. In the daily papers and other publications in the USA, cartoon work falls into recognizable genres or categories.
- Single panel cartoons ranging from The Far Side by Gary Larson to Bil Keane's Family Circus
- Comic strips that are solely humorous, including Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz
- Editorial comic strips such as Doonesbury by Gary Trudeau
- Adventure comic strips such as Superman by various authors and artists and Prince Valiant by Hal Foster
- Semi-political comic strips include Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis, Li'l Abner by Al Capp, and Pogo by Walt Kelly
- Fine art cartoons presented as fine art in books, illustrations and other graphic expressions such as the work of Saul Steinberg New Yorker Magazine Covers and Eternaloons by Paul Palnik.