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A cartoonist is a visual
artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...
who specializes in both drawing and writing
cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
s (individual images) or
comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...
(sequential images). Cartoonists differ from
comics writer A script is a document describing the narrative and dialogue of a comic book in detail. It is the comic book equivalent of a television program teleplay or a film screenplay. In comics, a script may be preceded by a plot outline, and is almost al ...
s or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and graphic components of the work as part of their practice. Cartoonists may work in a variety of formats, including
book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
lets,
comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
s,
comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s, editorial cartoons,
graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...
s, manuals, gag cartoons, storyboards,
posters A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. ...
,
shirts A shirt is a cloth garment for the upper body (from the neck to the waist). Originally an undergarment worn exclusively by men, it has become, in American English, a catch-all term for a broad variety of upper-body garments and undergarments. I ...
,
books A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ar ...
, advertisements, greeting cards, magazines,
newspapers A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports ...
,
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...
s, and video game packaging.


Terminology

Cartoonists may also be denoted by terms such as comics artist, comic book artist, graphic novel artist or graphic novelist. Ambiguity may arise because "comic book artist" may also refer to the person who only illustrates the comic, and "graphic novelist" may also refer to the person who only writes the script.


History

The English satirist and editorial cartoonist William Hogarth, who emerged in the 18th century, poked fun at contemporary politics and customs; illustrations in such style are often referred to as "Hogarthian". Following the work of Hogarth, political cartoons began to develop in England in the latter part of the 18th century under the direction of its great exponents, James Gillray and
Thomas Rowlandson Thomas Rowlandson (; 13 July 175721 April 1827) was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era, noted for his political satire and social observation. A prolific artist and printmaker, Rowlandson produced both individual social an ...
, both from London. Gillray explored the use of the medium for lampooning and
caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, a ...
, calling the king (
George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
), prime ministers and generals to account, and has been referred to as the father of the political cartoon.


Origin in the U.S.

While never a professional cartoonist,
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
is credited with the first cartoon published in '' The Pennsylvania Gazette'' in 1754: '' Join, or Die'', depicting the American colonies as segments of a snake. In the 19th century, professional cartoonists such as Thomas Nast, whose work appeared in '' Harper's Weekly'', introduced other familiar American political symbols, such as the
Republican elephant The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP ("Grand Old Party"), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. The GOP was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act, ...
.


Comic strips

Comic strips received widespread distribution to mainstream newspapers by
syndicates A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...
. Calum MacKenzie, in his preface to the exhibition catalog, ''The Scottish Cartoonists'' (Glasgow Print Studio Gallery, 1979) defined the selection criteria: :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. Many strips were the work of two people although only one signature was displayed. Shortly after
Frank Willard Frank Henry Willard (September 21, 1893 in Anna, Illinois – January 11, 1958 in Los Angeles, California), was a cartoonist best known for his syndicated newspaper comic strip ''Moon Mullins'' which ran from 1923 to 1991, working alongside assist ...
began ''
Moon Mullins ''Moon Mullins'' is an American comic strip which had a run as both a daily and Sunday feature from June 19, 1923 to June 2, 1991. Syndicated by the Tribune Media Services, Chicago Tribune/New York News Syndicate, the strip depicts the lives of d ...
'' in 1923, he hired
Ferd Johnson Ferdinand Johnson (December 18, 1905 – October 14, 1996), usually cited as Ferd Johnson, was an American cartoonist, best known for his 68-year stint on the ''Moon Mullins'' comic strip. Biography Johnson was born December 18, 1905, in ...
as his assistant. For decades, Johnson received no credit. Willard and Johnson traveled about
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, Maine,
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
, and Mexico, drawing the strip while living in hotels, apartments and farmhouses. At its peak of popularity during the 1940s and 1950s, the strip ran in 350 newspapers. According to Johnson, he had been doing the strip solo for at least a decade before Willard's death in 1958: "They put my name on it then. I had been doing it about 10 years before that because Willard had heart attacks and strokes and all that stuff. The minute my name went on that thing and his name went off, 25 papers dropped the strip. That shows you that, although I had been doing it ten years, the name means a lot."


See also

* Comic book creator * Penciller * Editorial cartoonist * Harvey Award *
List of cartoonists This is a list of cartoonists, visual artists who specialize in drawing cartoons. This list includes only notable cartoonists and is not meant to be exhaustive. Notable cartoonists * Scott Adams, ''Dilbert'' * Charles Addams (1938-1988), macabre ...
*
List of newspaper comic strips The following is a list of comic strips. Dates after names indicate the time frames when the strips appeared. There is usually a fair degree of accuracy about a start date, but because of rights being transferred or the very gradual loss of appea ...
*
Mangaka A is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. As of 2006, about 3,000 professional manga artists were working in Japan. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist bef ...
* List of manga artists *''
The Someday Funnies ''The Someday Funnies'' is an exceptionally large and varied book of comics which was published by Abrams on November 1, 2011. The book was a project that had originally been intended as a special supplement for the magazine ''Rolling Stone'', bu ...
'' *
Webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...
*
Female comics creators Although, traditionally, female comics creators have long been a minority in the industry, they have made a notable impact since the very beginning, and more and more female artists are getting recognition along with the maturing of the medium. Wo ...
*
Glossary of comics terminology developed specialized terminology. Some several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is un ...
* Daily comic strip * Sunday comics *
Sunday strip The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in most western newspapers, almost always in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, the funny papers or simply the funnies. The first US newspap ...


References


Citations


Works cited

*


Further reading

* Steve Edgell, Tim Pilcher, Brad Brooks, ''The Complete Cartooning Course: Principles, Practices, Techniques'' (London: Barron's, 2001).


External links

*


Societies and organizations


Professional Cartoonists' Organisation (UK)National Cartoonists SocietyAssociation of American Editorial CartoonistsSociety of IllustratorsSociety of Children’s Book Writers and IllustratorsSociety of Illustrators of Los AngelesThe Association of IllustratorsThe Illustrators Partnership of AmericaAIIQ - l’Association des Illustrateurs et Illustratrices du QuébecColorado Alliance of IllustratorsInstitute For Archaeologists Graphics Archaeology GroupGuild of Natural Science IllustratorsGuild of Natural Science Illustrators-NorthwestIllustrators AustraliaNewsartAustralian Cartoonists Association
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Communities


Cartoonist ClubDeviantARTConceptArttoonsUpMojizuIllustrateurComic DesignSteamKat
{{Authority control * Visual arts occupations
Comics {{Cat main, Comics Comics are an art form using a single image or a series of static images in fixed sequence. Cartoons and comic strips are often printed in newspapers, while comic books are generally published as individual documents. Webcomi ...
Cartooning