Howzit going? What’s new?
I’ve been busy. Had to send of a bunch of cartoons for approval. I hate submitting cartoons to editors. It feels like a job interview, but whether you sell a cartoon or not, the next week you’re fired and you have to reapply. I’m a year into single panel experiment and I’ve learnt a lot. One, I don’t want to be a single panel gag cartoonist full time, and 2, it’s more competitive than I thought. Oh and 3, England cartoonists are assholes compared to American ones. And I’m not saying that as an American cartoonists. I’m a South African with British Parents so you’d think I’d prefer the England folk. I’m saying English cartoonist are assholes compared to American ones because it’s true. So I moved to the U.K to get more into cartooning. There aren’t any magazines left in S.A. but there are still quite a lot here in England. So the first thing I did when I decided to try get into magazines was contact some of the dudes already in the magazines here. They weren’t very welcoming, most of them just told me how hard it is and that I shouldn’t bother. I even told them that it’s not about the money, it’s just something I really want to do. Only one of the English cartoonists I spoke to was nice, but that stopped as soon as I started getting into magazines. This dude was helpful at the start, but warned me it would take months before I sold a cartoon, so when I sent him a message that I had gotten in to a big magazine, he ignored me. Never spoke to me again. It’s so bizarre.
Now compare that to the American cartoonists. The first time I got a cartoon into one of the big publications in America I received messages from American cartoonists congratulating me. They even told me of more places I should try and submit to. They gave me advice on how often I should submit and what I should be charging. It was crazy. I didn’t even ask. I heard a story about a similar thing with Comedians. I’m not sure where I heard it, but it was an English comedian talking to an American comedian and they said that the English don’t want anyone else to succeed. As soon as an English comedian starts doing well, the other comedians are assholes to him, but the Americans want everyone to succeed. I don’t know how true this is with comedians, but it’s definitely my experience with cartooning.
Anyway, why I don’t want to be a single panel cartoonists is because it gets a little boring. I don’t actually enjoy making single panels. I enjoy coming up with ideas, but drawing them and trying to sell them is boring, also I don’t like the style. I like cartoony and silly. But most of the bigger publications want a more professional, business kind of style. It’s really good practice and it’s forcing me to try things I would never have done before, but I don’t see the fun in the drawings.
But I said I’d do it for a year and then move on to the next thing, which is now stories. I am still doing gag cartoons, but I will only make half the amount of cartoons as last year so I can make time for my stories.
Like I said in the previous post. I’m working on a few strips and one that will be available as a book.
I’m still trying to decide what style it should be. I switch back and forth between 2D mobile game looking or a more 3D feel. I do like the look of the 2D and a bonus will be that maybe one day we can turn it into a game. I’m also still figuring out which style of Daveman will be used to be the main one. I want to fit all the styles he’s been drawn in somewhere in the comic, but for the main caveman I need to decide how I want him to look. I’ve drawn his differently so many times, but this comic will explain why he looks different. The truth is that when I started drawing him, I didn’t know how to draw, and then as I learnt, his style started to change. He eventually got too detailed and I had to reverse a little. But this story will pretend the reason he was drawn so differently back in the early days was because Daveman isn’t actually one guy. There are many different Davemen. So when he looked different, it’s because he was different.
See, so now I can hide how shitty I drew when I started and pretend it was all a big plan for this book.
That’s all for today.
