Baby Steps

When my client called me one night, asking for a magazine cover that showed "the entire city of Shanghai, with the river in front of it, and a bunch of ships going by", well, I didn't know what to say. At first I thought the guy was crazy, and then I thought that I was crazy for considering it.

How the heck was I going to do this, using the technique of vector illustrations, to which I was still relatively new?

The answer, of course, is one step at a time. As the old saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.... a baby step, even.

There have been a few times in my career when I've seen some great art, and said, "Wow! How the heck could anyone do that? Are they even human?" THe answer is, yes, they're human. They just have a lot of skill, and probably put a lot of time into developing that skill. And, just as important, they had the confidence to start, and complete, something great.

Trust me on this: if you want to survive in this, or any other artistic endeavor, you need some good portfolio pieces. Not something you did in school, unless you graduated in the last six months, and not something you did while watching TV one night.

Thanks to this same client, I've had a few assignments which have taken me nearly a month to complete from start to finish. Not an easy task, especially in this day and age where we want everything right away. Still, you take a deep breathe, and begin.

The above illustration, actually a photograph of the magazine itself, shows the completed work. It took me between 3 and 4 weeks to do, working hours at a time, and using about 40 different photographs for reference. This reminds me, step two, after taking a deep breathe, is to do some research. Today it's easy to run to the internet, but for something like this, 72 dpi just doesn't cut it. Googled images just don't compare to books, magazines, and a good photo morgue.

So, you do some research, and then what? Sketch, sketch, sketch. That's right... get a real pencil and paper if you can find them, and sketch. Sketching on the computer just isn't the same, at least for me.

Once you have a good sketch, you scan it into Adobe Illustrator, and work it up in steps. Block out huge areas of color, determine your light source, place in large structures... just like you learned in art class as a kid. Use basic shapes and colors until you have a well balanced piece.

From there you add enough detail to suit the piece. For this piece I wanted plenty of detail, and at one point I had about 11 layers of details for the city alone. I worked back and forth until an overall balance was achieved, checked my light and shadows, and tweaked the colors for harmony. I didn't stop until I was happy with the work, and trust me, I'm happy.

Fortunately in this case I had plenty of time to work before the deadline, and had no need to rush. For me, this is one of my finest pieces of work, and I would put it against any other magazine cover of its type. I'm very proud, after the fact, and have a terrific portfolio piece to show for all that hard work.

Cover detail from the November Issue of CURRENTS magazine.

To be honest, though, there were a few days at the beginning when I was pulling my hair out, sweating a bid, and thinking impure thoughts. But that's where the confidence comes in.

Youhave to believe in yourself, take that first baby step, and say to yourself, "I know I can, I know I can..."

Cheers, and let me know what you think, JOHN :0)

PS The original art is even better to see, but I've had too many problems with theft to show any high res stuff on the internet anymore. It's a shame that some people out there have to live their life by feeding off of others, but it is a sorry fact of life.

PSS What's on my iPod today? Bob Dylan, Tangled Up in Blue. The lyrics just slay me.

The End of the Rainbow

Thanks to the fine people over at McDougal Littell, the above Inquiring Minds cartoon is appearing nationwide in their 8th Grade Literature textbook. That's right, one of my cartoons is considered literature by people who know literature, so there. Who says comics are kid's stuff? :0)

Now the school day is that much brighter, and funnier, for school children everywhere. The lesson for the rest of us, though, is this: follow your dreams, and write stuff that is meaningful to you.

As you can read at the link above, John Henry was a hero of mine when I was a wee lad. I wrote the above cartoon in honor of his legend, and how his spirit has driven my life. Sure, the cartoon is silly, but the idea is there about not giving up, and facing even the toughest odds. You might not win every battle, but you've accomplished something just by trying, and not giving up.

Today I get to see my work in a literature book side by side with great writers. This is the result of my not giving up, a lesson I learned as a kid, and a spirit that I've always kept with me.

So write what you know, and do work that is meaningful to you. In the end, you'll be all the better for it.

Cheers, JOHN :0)

PS For a brand new Inquiring Minds cartoon, please visit http://www.happyglyphs.com/

PSS On my iPod today? Genesis: A Trick of the Tail

Tools of the Trade for Today's Illustrators and Cartoonists

My cover illustration for
the May 2007 CURRENTS magazine.


I recently wrote of my learning to create vector illustrations, and thanks to a terrific client, I now have plenty of practice creating this type of illustration. And in creating these, the one tool I use most is the computer, and more explicitly, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop. Of course, my language becomes explicit with these programs at times, and all the time with my computer, but software has become a vital tool to today's Illustrators and Cartoonists.



Not too long ago it was said that a Cartoonist only needed something to draw with, and something to draw on, such as a pencil and piece of paper. This is still true, today, of course, but oh, software, when working, can make life a lot easier.

Today's Important Lesson, though, is this: the computer is NOT a substitute, or replacement, for traditional skills. You need to know how to draw and paint, and most importantly, design. You need to know the rules about color, composition, balance, repetition, etc. 2-D Design and Color Theory. Computers can be fun, and the software I mentioned above can do so many things, that some people sit down, fiddle with the effects, and think they are artists. In this day and age, we still see some horrible graphic design, and bad art, because desktop publishing has made so many people mistake themselves for artists.

If you don't believe me, look at old newspapers and magazines to see what kind of illustrators and designers preceded us. Amazing work was done a century ago!


I'm a traditionalist, by nature. I still draw by hand when I can, although today I sketch more than draw. Some talented artists draw completely on the computer these days, and they do terrific stuff because they have learned to take their traditional skills all the way to the computer. Some of us have merged the two: I myself sketch until I have something good, and then scan it in and work it up in Illustrator or Photoshop, depending on the final product. Sketching is still an important part of the process, as I have mentioned before. Going with your first sketch can work, but you'll get better results by giving your ideas more time, and thought. Sitting at the computer to start work can be a mistake.


All that being said, though, software is a vital tool for today's artist. Cleaning up illustrations is so much easier in photoshop when you compare it to the razor blade and whiteout. And coloring? Forget about it! Coloring is so much easier to do on the computer, with much more reliable results. I'll admit that coloring the old fashioned way is a skill that I never fully developed. In a forthcoming book, I will show examples of my coloring from a long time ago, when Doc Martin's dyes were the tools of the day. That work hardly compares to my coloring today, which I am quite proud of.

Also, with the advent of email and PDF files, sending work to a client is as easy as pushing a button. The client no longer needs to photograph your original work, and you don't need to worry about the artwork getting there on time, or getting lost or damaged. That is, if you have original art at all.

That is one loss in these modern times. I collect original art from my favorite artists, and seeing this work is quite inspirational, and educational. You see their styles up close, can infer what tools they use, and how large they draw, and you can enjoy their work every day, looking up at your walls.

Now the next important part. Software is expensive. The two adobe products above will cost you over $1200, and after a few years, Adobe no longer supports these products if you haven't paid for expensive upgrades. Frankly, I could survive using the versions from 10 years ago. However, the new versions have some nice features, and creating PDF's directly from the program has become much easier.

SO.... if you want to be a Professional, make sure you have today's tools, as well as traditional. And it pays to take classes to use your new software. There is so much to learn that you may not get the vital stuff by practicing yourself, or reading the books. Believe me, knowing your software allows you to work quicker, and better, and that allows you to get more work done.

Have fun, but keep sketching! JOHN :0)

PS There's still time to vote for the new HappyGlyphs Logo. Please take a second to vote. :0)