Kannada Cartoons

I wish more teeagers, who want to pursue cartooning as a career, could get better guidance. It reminds me of my college days, when I used to struggle for each piece of info which could help me draw right, draw better. I couldn't find anybody who would guide me. (The town I hail from, Kundapur, near Udupi, hardly had any known cartoonist. Some of the known cartoonists from the place were settled in big cities) Newspapers/magazines would outright reject my cartoons when they found some mistakes in it, instead of informing me about the mistake and giving me a chance to correct my mistakes.
I used to write all my doubts/queries on post card and mail it to known cartoonists.(Kannada magazine Tharanga had this habit of publishing cartoonists' address. May be the first Kannada magazine to give writers' status to cartoonists) Not surprisinngly none of them would respond! Haha!

But fortunately a cartoonist named Manju did respond to my post card and answered most of my basic questions, in detail. That helped me to use the right ink, right pen and draw in right size so that publishers can select more of my cartoons.

Why I'm being nostlagic? Few of my old cartoons, that I found in my old file took me back in time and reminded me of struggling days. I'm posting some of my old cartoons which were done for Kannada magazines. I didn't try to translate them into English as some humour may be lost in the translataion. Each language has it's own flavour!

I'm planning post more of my old Kannada cartoons, most of them were published. It's a nice way of observing the difference in my style of drawing over the years.(If you can notice I used to add lots of unnecessary details in my earlier cartoons. Now my cartoons are more simple with details to minimum)

And also the kind of humour I stumbled upon!

Being a cartoonist-1

The best part of being a cartoonist is, even a blunder in any cartoon goes unnoticed. And the worst part is people expect cartoonists to be funny. Of course, a cartoonist tries his best to bring smile on your face. But I don’t see a cartoonist as an entertainer. For me he’s a journalist who gives opinion through his drawings, just as a journalist says something through his writing. A cartoonist is more popular because his route is humor and he’s more visible also

There are cartoonists who see themselves as entertainers. They feel their job is to make readers laugh. I completely respect their stance. It makes sense to be very clear with your profession. But many of the cartoonists, I know, consider themselves as a journalist. They yearn to reach more and more people so that what they say can be heard.

Many readers are curious to know how cartoonists work.
They come up with numerous questions. Some funny and some thought provoking.
It’s natural as they are alien to a cartoonist’s job. But when a seasoned journalist comes up with silly question, it shocks you. Like it happened once when I was interviewed by The Times of India The g who’s a very senior journalist on the desk asked me innocently ‘ Do you come up with your own ideas or someone from the desk gives you the idea for your daily cartoon?’ I was really shocked to hear that question from journalist with a publication where India’s legend cartoonist Laxman worked for decades! Just imagine what would be Laxman’s reaction if someone asked him the same question. I can imagine Laxman smacking that person!

I do realize that most of the journalists don’t know how cartoonists work, as most of the cartoonists work as a freelancer. But some cartoonists who work with a publication are used mainly as a space-filler, unless you are also into graphics. To survive in a publication (especially a newspaper) you need to be an all rounder. You have to be a utility player and capable of supporting the editorial team with all kinds of visual possibilities. Some of the cartoonists, I know, don’t like this idea. But I love this, though my first preference would be cartooning. When you become a utility player you become a good part of the edit team. You contribute to the news. And more importantly you cease to be a space-filler! I just love it!

Phew! There’s so much to write about, how we work! To be frank I haven’t started how we work. Probably in my next I would be glad, if some reporter or desk journalist write about how they work! It would be great fun to share that ‘little secret’ with readers. Isn’t it?

(I have posted some of the illustrations I have done for midday. I dont think they are space filler. I believe they contributed to the story)