Hola Night Owls & Early Birds
COUNTDOWN # 6
Tonight’s Essential Cartoon brings back Blair and his best friend Ron as they discuss cartooning. Since the Beware of Beartrap cartoons take longer to complete, I started this morning, laying out the pencils and lettering and borders. This evening I finished the penciling, inking and shading.
This is a good overall plan, taking the cartoon project in 2 portions, which is good for my neck, which can hurt if I’m drawing too long, and good for my bed time. The initial idea and plan for this cartoon was done about 2 years ago, but sat in my To Do file gathering dust. I’m glad to finally see it to completion.
This cartoon also brings back the original lay-out/format for my Beware of Beartrap cartoons. When I first started drawing these cartoons in 2018, I drew them on the 9X12 boards in portrait, which means the 12 inch sides were vertical. I also liked the extra 1-inch room this left me for the cartoon’s title, and a little extra picture somewhat related to the cartoon.
Looking back at my old Beware of Beartrap cartoons, I am struck that even though I was very insecure and shaky in my renderings, I still muddled through. It makes me remind myself that, ultimately, it’s not the end of the journey that is so important, but the journey itself — and especially the beginner’s stage where one may feel and look the most vulnerable.
So, as a reminder, on those days that I may get hard on myself, feeling that I should be further along with my art, I can say, “Hey, chill out, Ian. You’re doing great. Enjoy the baby steps. Enjoy the beginning stages. Because one day you’ll look back and really appreciate where you came from.”
Until manana . . .
Humor abounds.
Ian S.
Salinas!
P.S.
“No rulers were harmed during the making of this cartoon.”
“Let’s still be careful out there.”