Cartoons are a device to entertain as well as inform. They depict current events and situations with truth and subtle humour. Political advertising, social, and sports cartoons are the most visible cartoons today.
Animators may be called motion cartoonists because their drawings are photographed in sequence to make a film and when the film is processed at high speed the cartoon images appear to be moving.
An animator or a cartoonist is basically an illustrator who draws pictures and cartoons to amuse, educate and persuade people. Some cartoonists work as part of a team with others who create the idea or story and write the captions.
Nature of Work
Cartoonists draw illustrations for newspapers, books, magazines, greetings cards, movies, television shows, civic organisations and private businesses.
Most editorial cartoonists are constantly commenting on society by drawing pictures that are usually funny, but often with a satirical edge. Cartoonists often depict famous politicians so they are often portraistists too. Comic strips tell jokes or short stories with a series of pictures.
Animators would also be drawing individual pictures, but they must draw many more for a moving cartoon. Each picture varies only a little from the ones before and after it in the series. Computers also help animators to create special effects.
Initially, all cartoonists and animators translate ideas onto paper or film to communicate the ideas to an audience. The ideas may be original or directly related to the news of the day, to an article, or to a new product.
Cartoonists and animators initially draw on paper, acetate or Bristol board using pens, pencils, markers, crayons, paints, transparent washes, and shading sheets.
Work Environment
Animators mainly work in the motion picture and television industries but are valuable for the advertising industry too. Cartoons are usually associated with newspaper comics or with children’s entertainment but are equally, if not better more, effective in publications as well as in advertising Computers are integrating fast in various areas of production in these fields.
The normal trend is for the cartoonists to discuss their ideas with their employers including creative directors, editors, producers in an advertising agency, newspaper, magazine or publishing firm, as the case may be. After getting the nod of approval, cartoonists will sketch drawings and submit these for consideration. Changes may be suggested by the employers, which may then be integrated. Cartoonists need to be flexible enough to accommodate the employer’s desires to build a broader clientele and earn a decent living.
Specialisations
Cartoonists who specialise in drawing caricatures are sometimes called portraitists. Some cartoonists specialise in caricatures-pictures that exaggerate someone’s prominent features, such as a large nose, pouting lips, ears sticking out, to make them recognizable to the public.
Physical and Psychological Requirements
Resilience, confidence, exceptional talent are attributes required for all cartoonists and animators. Creativity to generate ideas and of course, to depict them with the minimum fuss is important. They may collaborate with writers for ideas. Concepts and images should appeal to the targeted audience. They must be able to feel the pulse of the people. A well-developed sense of humour, and an observant eye help to detect people’s distinguishing characteristics and society’s interesting incongruities. Aspirants must cultivate the ability to take suggestions and rejections gracefully. To survive in this uncertain, fickle and creative profession one needs perseverance, persistence, determination and a very thick skin.
An aspiring cartoonist should be in touch with contemporary life and quite clear about political, social, historical and economic connotations. For an animator imagination and imaging are crucial. One must be clear about the direction of impact of whatever medium you work for – print, film or television.
Study/Training
Animators and cartoonists with formal training find it easier to get employment but success is not assured just by being trained professionally. What is important is an understanding of the visual communication medium. Talents, ideas, communication skills, interpersonal skills and perceptions of the times are also required for survival in these creative professions.
Formal training in an art or design programme from a reputed institution definitely helps one to seek employment in reputed organisations since it provides prospective employers with a standard by which to gauge the level of your talents and abilities. Training in computers in addition to art can be especially valuable.
It is equally important not to allow your formal training to overshadow or inhibit accommodating the commercial demands in the application of a cartoonist’s / animator’s art.
There can be various types of formal training programmes that can help.
• Fine Arts
• Applied Art
• Commercial Art
• Graphic Design
• Animation Design
• Visual Communication Design
• Multimedia courses help you to understand the technicalities and handle relevant software packages. The artistic aspect cannot be taught, it has to be inherent. Popular packages recommended by pros in the field include Abode Photoshop.
Entry point for formal training programmes is either after class 10 or class 12, Ideally, study upto class12 is ideal before branching out because you need to have a mature mind to come up with the right ideas and appropriate imagery.
Non-formal training programmes at private institutes is open to school leavers after class 10. A formal professional course in art or design backed up by exposure to computer training in art packages is the best approach.
Employment Prospects
Keen competition is what you are up against whether you are looking for salaried regular employment or freelance work. Innumerable young people are attracted to this work for the associated glamor, flexibility, and excitement. Your portfolio with its collection of hand-made, computer-generated, or printed (published) samples could provide evidence of appropriate talent and skill to a prospective employer. Assembling a successful portfolio requires skills generally developed in a formal training while internship gives excellent opportunities for artists to develop and enhance their portfolios. Publishers, magazines, newspapers, and advertising agencies are the usual employing organisations.
A satisfied employer can do wonders by word of mouth publicity and the same goes if you have the right contacts in the media world. It could take a long time to be noticed or it might be difficult to sustain the interest generated in a successful campaign.
Innovation and rejuvenation are the ingredients for sustained success. Establishing yourself as a freelancer may take a long time. You may earn little till you acquire experience and establish a good reputation. Cartoonists and animators find work in specialised markets so they are better off compared to fine artists.
Most cartoonists and animators find work in big cities where you would find television studios, magazine publishers, and advertising agencies located. A professional career in cartooning is neither easy nor well paying unless you get to be well established.
Career Progression
Success and career progression in these fields is a combination of skills and talents, general suitability for the jobs, your personality, you ability to fit in, location (lbig cities with TV studios, advertising agencies and center for publishing lots of newspapers are ideal), the level of competitiveness prevailing in the market at that point of time.
Further jobs and assignments are really the outcome of a good project you have worked on and the attendant success.
Whether employed full-time or working freelance, cartoonists and animators might find their creativity curtailed by the demands of the employers who assigned the work to them – you have to accept this limitation as an occupational hazard unless you can bring them round to your way of thinking.
In the networked world in this information age with the volume of activity on the World Wide Web, jobs for animation and cartoon artists is projected to increase. CAD (Computer-aided design) technology is used in advertising, audio-visual presentations, business statistics, and corporate publications, Big bucks and celebrity status will always depend on a touch of genius, constant innovation and savvy marketing.
I completely agree with you! I have often felt like that but nobody really would like to take it as seriously as we do apparently. Excellent blog by the way, I am going to have to drop by a lot more often.