Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Cartooning 101: Sunday Funnies


This is for all you Cartoonists who have moments where they feel all thumbs.  A bit of honesty, from someone who should know better by now. :0)

I haven't done all that many Knight and Day Sunday Strips, even though Knight and Day has been around a long time now, and has had several moments of success.  The one thing I don't hear other Cartoonists mention is just how much more work a Sunday comic can be, and how much more difficult... especially when you draw dailies all the time.  Sure, someone like Bill Watterson has mentioned that it took him the same amount of time to create a Sunday strip as it did to create 6 dailies, but I do not think he ever mentioned the reasons!

Yes, it's the same characters and sometimes similar situations, but a Sunday strip is larger, has more panels, is colored, and-  at least in my case... the proportions are different!  Yes, I draw at a different size, which means a new paradigm... squashing your instincts from drawing daily after daily, and getting yourself to fit different sized panels.

So?  What to do?




When faced with a problem, the first thing you should do is... Face the Problem!  Avoiding it doesn't make it go away, so when I returned to Knight and Day recently I decided to tackle not one, but two Sunday Strips in a row.  This way the struggles with the first weren't wasted, and the paradigm shift was extended to the second strip making it that much easier... and blessedly faster!

So short post from me (bonus for you) and TWO, count them, two Sunday Strips from Knight and Day for you to enjoy.

Both show the reason for the title Knight and Day... the differences between the two main characters and how they see the world.  And the nice thing about a Sunday Strip is there is more room for dialog, and hence more room for me to demonstrate their different views.

And even though I have a mess of dailies to draw, I just came out with another great Sunday idea, this time featuring their daughter Iris, of The Inquiring Minds fame.

Stay tooned for that, and as always, please let me know what you think!  Your feedback means the world to me.    JOHN :0)

On my iPod?  "Uncorked", the new Live album from Al Stewart.  Fantastic!