Cartoon

“ A good cartoon must show the real characteristics of the original, exaggerated, yet easy to recognize. A picture that will tell its story at a glance can be understood by all, and will be remembered long after paragraphs are forgotten. So it is readily seen what a power for good may be found in the daily cartoon.
It is necessary that a good cartoonist have a clear sense of form, although great freedom is allowed in his drawing and no attempt is made for a studied or accurate representation. ”

“ And yet, if one stops to analyze the individual cartoons, to take them apart and discover the essence of their humor, the incisive edge of their irony and satire, one finds that there is nothing really new in them; that the basic principles of caricature were all understood as well in the eighteenth century as in the nineteenth, and that, in many cases, the successful cartoon of to-day is simply the replica of an old one of a past generation, modified to fit a new set of facts. ”

“ A political cartoon resembles in a way a composite photograph, which embodies not merely the superimposed features of the men who sat before the camera, but something also of the countless generations before them, who have made their features what they are by transmitting from father to son something of their own personality. In the same way, the political cartoon of to-day is the product of a gradual evolution, mirroring back the familiar features of many a cartoon of the past. ”

“ In looking through the volumes of Punch one is apt to forget that the strong situations and stirring events by which a caricaturist's hit is made effective at the time of publication fade from one's memory. The cartoon in all its strength remains a record of an event which has lost its interest. ”

“ In looking backward over a century of caricature, it is interesting to ask just what it is that makes the radical difference between the cartoon of to-day and that of a hundred years ago. That there is a wide gulf between the comparative restraint of the modern cartoonist and the unbridled license of Gillray's or Rowlandson's grotesque, gargoyle types, is self-evident; that comic art, as applied to politics, is to-day more widespread, more generally appreciated, and in a quiet way more effective in molding public opinion than ever before, needs no argument. ”

“ Questions about the art. What is the difference between a cartoon and a caricature? How did the word cartoon come to have its present meaning? What kind of a magazine is Punch? Tell something of the early history of caricatures and cartoons. What effect did the invention of the printing press have upon them? Who was the first American caricaturist? Tell about Benjamin Franklin and his newspaper. What magazines publish cartoons now? What is your idea of a good cartoon? What subjects are usually chosen in newspaper cartoons? What good can they do in the world? ”

“ The animated cartoon artist, instead of using real people, objects, or views to take on his film, must make a number of related drawings, on every one of which there must be a change in a proper, [58] progressive, and graduated order. These drawings are placed under a camera and photographed in their sequence, the film developed and the resultant negative used to make a positive film. This is used, as we know, for screen projection. ”

“ Speed and originality are the two prime requisites of the successful newspaper cartoon of to-day, a maximum of thought expressed in a minimum of lines, apposite, clear-cut, and incisive, like a well-written editorial. ”

“ Now our best cartoonists would not stoop to secure recognition by such means; they are more considerate, and we are allowed to appreciate their clever representations without feeling the sting of resentment, even though our sympathies are on the other side. But our cartoonists of to-day do not spend all their time representing the political issues; they also deal with the affairs of everyday life.
We are told that the word cartoon originally meant a design or model for a large picture in fresco, oil, tapestry, statuary, glass, or mosaic. ”

“ In England the cartoon, no longer a weapon of venomous attack, has come to be regarded as a humorous or sarcastic comment upon the topic uppermost in the nation’s mind, a witty or saturnine illustration of views already formed, rather than as an instrument for the manufacture of public opinion. ”

“ Take away the personal rancor, the almost irrational hatred of "Little Boney" from Gillray, take away Daumier's mordant irony, his fearless contempt for Louis Philippe, and the life of their work is gone. The typical cartoon of to-day is, to a large extent, not a one-man production at all. It is frequently built up, piecemeal, one detail at a time, and in the case of a journal like Punch or Judge or Life often represents the thoughtful collaboration of the entire staff. ”

“ Joseph Keppler who, as an American cartoonist and caricaturist, has not only imposed its canons and traditions upon this country, but has, in so doing, placed himself at its head, both in this country and in Europe, by virtue of a genius that has made him eminent above the generation of his masters.
The spirit of French comic art turns distinctly—and delightfully—to caricature. The French “cartoon”—the pictorial lampoon, that is—has but to exhibit in an exaggerated form the objectionable characteristics of an individual, to serve its purpose and to touch its public. ”

“ With infinite intentions in a world of infinitesimal possibilities, our efforts constantly caricature and cartoon our aims. All our works are filled with comic illustrations galore. We make them ourselves, and they overshadow our works. ”

“ A cartoon is a design drawn on strong paper in chalks or distemper, to be afterwards calked through, and transferred to the fresh plaster of a wall to be painted in fresco oil-colour or tapestry. The finest cartoons known are those executed by Raphael for Leo X. in 1515 and 1516 as patterns for tapestry. Each of them is about twelve feet high, is drawn with chalk on strong paper, and coloured in distemper by that master and his pupils. ”

“ To the Teacher: Pupils should be encouraged to bring good cartoons to school. These may be collected, and the best put up where all can see and be ready to discuss as to size, composition, variety, number, and color of lines used in expressing the idea.
History of caricature and cartoon. It is hard for us to realize that caricature is as old as man’s ability to express himself with chisel, pen, or ink. Away back in the time of the Assyrians and Egyptians we find certain caricatures representing grotesque figures drawn on papyrus. ”

“ Now many weekly journals, as Harper’s, Leslie’s, and a monthly magazine called Cartoons, make this a special feature. Nearly every newspaper in the country contains at least one cartoon in each issue, and many have their own cartoonists, whose time is busily occupied preparing drawings for the daily issues. ”

“ Tenniel’s depictions, more than the ordinary qualifications of a screen draftsman.
As in the rough-and-tumble antics of the rustic clown little refinement is either prevalent or expected, so in the ordinary comic animated cartoon exquisiteness of drawing is neither found nor ordinarily looked for. But in a story with fineness of wit, and told artistically, it is obligatory that its interpretation be of a corresponding quality. It is necessary, in other words, that the artist be good at figure work and especially skilful in drawing difficult actions and perspective walks. ”

“ Every great event since the invention of mechanical reproductive processes has produced its due reflection in the mirror of the artist. The crude old broadsheets told their tale of the Napoleonic wars more vividly than any historian could; and the present struggle, while it slew nearly every other art for the time being, worked up to fever-pitch the output of pictorial comment. In France, where this form of expression has always been popular, an unexampled flood of cartoon and caricature poured from artists both celebrated and unknown. ”

“ The conversation at each meeting is for some time closely confined to the discussion of the cartoon, then it spreads to every imaginable topic. One feels that one assists at the making of history when the Great Cartoon, or Cut, as they called it, is discussed—as, for instance, when the design for the one representing Disraeli on the side of the Angels is decided upon, after his famous speech at Oxford in 1864. The desultory conversation reported in the diary on each occasion after settlement of the cartoon throws a light upon things uppermost in the public mind at the time. ”

“ In painting, a cartoon is used as a model for a large picture in fresco, oil or tapestry, or for statuary. It was also formerly employed in glass and mosaic work. When cartoons are used in fresco-painting, the back of the design is covered with black-lead or other colouring matter; and, this side of the picture being applied to the wall, the artist passes over the lines of the design with a point, and thus obtains an impression. ”

“ We will say it is a political cartoon on a certain occurrence that I am to draw. I deliberately sit down and study out my idea. When it is formed, I begin to draw. I never commence to draw without a conception of what I am going to do. ”

“ It is often a test of a cartoon’s worth to-day—its suitability as a wall-decoration. It is a natural and simple impulse that moves us to pin on the wall the picture that has pleased us. Readers of Puck who travel much in this country can not but notice how many people delight in pasting and pinning their favorite cartoons to the walls of their offices and workshops, and even of their dwelling-houses. A really popular cartoon is always sure of these humble but well-meant honors ”

“ The most frequent application that an animated cartoon artist makes of a vignetter is making cross dissolves, or causing one picture to blend into another. Imagine now that the idea to be expressed, through the medium of one of these cross dissolves, is that of a character standing in an attitude of reflection and supposed to be thinking of how he would look in a complete suit of armor. There will be two drawings: one with the figure in ordinary dress, and the other with him clad in the armor. ”

“ It is very well to take it for granted in a Cartoon that a series of cross-lines, almost as rough and apart as the lattice-work of a garden summerhouse, represents the texture of a human face; but the face cannot be painted so. A smear upon the paper may be understood, by virtue of the context gained from what surrounds it, to stand for a limb, or a body, or a cuirass, or a hat and feathers, or a flag, or a boot, or an angel. But when the time arrives for rendering these things in colours on a wall, they must be grappled with, and cannot be slurred over in this wise. ”

“ When it is remembered that an artist sometimes spends hours at a stretch photographing his numerous drawings for a cartoon film, and that all this time his head is but a few inches from the lights, this absence of heat is a desirable feature. ”

“ In the case of the leading dailies, the cartoon must be in accord with the settled political policy of the paper, as much as the leading articles on the editorial page. The individual preferences of the cartoonist do not count. ”

“ I will assume now that we have corrected the{215} drawing of our cartoon from our small nude studies.
We are fully aware that the drawing of every figure will have to be perfected from nature, that is, the head, neck, arms, hands, and feet; but we are satisfied that the attitudes are all possible, and that there is no great fault in the proportions. Now, therefore, we may look out for models for the heads, arms, feet, etc., and work with chalk or charcoal (if it can be fixed) on the cartoon itself.
And here let me caution you against ever working from a model whom you know to be unsuitable. ”

“ The celerity with which a caricature is now conceived and executed, thanks to the modern mechanical improvements and the prevailing spirit of alertness, makes it possible for the cartoonist to keep pace with the news of the day, to seize upon the latest political blunder, the social fad of the moment, and hit it off with a stroke of incisive irony, without fear that it will be forgotten before the drawing can appear in print. The consequences of all this modern haste and enterprise are not wholly advantageous. ”

“ Let the reader compare an ordinary Punch cartoon with one of the tinted lithographs issued from the Punch office during the artist’s lifetime under the title of The Rising Generation, and he cannot fail to be struck with the enormous advantages possessed by the latter. ”

“ ANNOUNCEMENT FROM time immemorial the human race has been interested in pictures of persons, scenes and things; and one of the most potent means of driving home ideas and lessons, and oftentimes of arousing human passions, is the cartoon. ”

“ A cartoon is an editorial—when it is one. The daily cartoons of Rollin Kirby upon The World’s editorial page are almost as often reproduced in Europe as in the United States as the finest examples extant of American public opinion portrayed at a glance in pictorial form. They thus combine present-day political effect with permanent historic value.
POLITICAL WRITERS The World is particularly fortunate in its political writers. ”

“ Finally, caricature is drawing that catches and exaggerates individual peculiarities, most often with a result which is humorous or satirical. The art of cartooning depends very largely on caricature and symbolism for its effect. Cartoons interpret life. The successful cartoonist, therefore, combines talent for drawing with a high degree of general intelligence. ”

“ After you have got your cartoon set out, you start making your drawing, and there are a number of cartoons here which show the varying treatments different people use. The usual method is to draw them in charcoal, and leave the colour to be taken from the small sketch. You will see some very admirable sketches here by Martin Travers, one of our old students. One can fairly trust to these to do the main colour of the window. They are so close to the design in detail, that the sketch is quite enough to make the glass from without colouring the cartoon. ”