Cartoon Drawing
The word cartoon has various meanings, based on several different forms of visual art and illustration. The term has evolved over time.The original meaning was in fine art, and there cartoon meant a preparatory drawing for a piece of art such as a painting or tapestry.
The somewhat more modern meaning was that of humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers. Even more recently there are now several contemporary meanings, including creative visual work for print media, for electronic media, and even animated films and animated digital media.
When the word cartoon is applied to print media, it most often refers to a humorous single-panel drawing or gag cartoon, most of which have captions and do not use speech balloons. The word cartoon is not often used to refer to a comic strip.
The artists who draw cartoons are known as cartoonists.
The somewhat more modern meaning was that of humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers. Even more recently there are now several contemporary meanings, including creative visual work for print media, for electronic media, and even animated films and animated digital media.
When the word cartoon is applied to print media, it most often refers to a humorous single-panel drawing or gag cartoon, most of which have captions and do not use speech balloons. The word cartoon is not often used to refer to a comic strip.
The artists who draw cartoons are known as cartoonists.
Cartoon for an Artwork
The oldest meaning is a drawing that is a full-sized design for a finished artwork. The cartoon might be a drawing for a painting that was going to be put onto a wall or ceiling in fresco. The cartoon would be pinned against the wall and its design marked onto the plastered of the wall. Cartoons were also made to design tapestry. The most famous cartons are a set by Raphael which show the "Life of St Peter". The cartoons are in the Victoria & Albert Museum. The finished tapestries belong to the Vatican and were made for the Sistine Chapel
Political cartoon
In the 1700s, artists such as William Hogarth often made sets of humorous (funny) drawings that were about political subjects, such aspoverty, elections, war and riots. The drawings were made into prints and were sold cheaply. These prints were not called cartoons at that time, but they led to the idea of modern political cartoons in newspapers.
Nowadays many newspapers publish a different political cartoon in the paper, every day. The word "cartoon" was first used in this way in 1843 in an English magazine called Punch.
A political cartoon does not always show people. Sometimes it may show a country as a person, an animal, a monster or a baby. For example, Britain might be shown as a woman holding a baby Australia in her arms. Russia might be shown as a bear. The United States might be shown as a Bald Eagle.
Nowadays many newspapers publish a different political cartoon in the paper, every day. The word "cartoon" was first used in this way in 1843 in an English magazine called Punch.
A political cartoon does not always show people. Sometimes it may show a country as a person, an animal, a monster or a baby. For example, Britain might be shown as a woman holding a baby Australia in her arms. Russia might be shown as a bear. The United States might be shown as a Bald Eagle.
Portrait cartoons
Political cartoons often showed real politicians or other famous people. One way to make these characters easy to recognise was to make some of their features bigger or smaller. So, if a politician had a round nose and a big chin, then the artist would make the nose rounder and the chin bigger. There are many modern cartoon artists who do "portait cartoons" or "charicatures".
Comic strips
Political cartoons were often drawn to show several different stages of the same story. Many of Hogarth's famous political cartoons do this. From this came the idea of telling funny stories in a series of pictures. Comic strips are a type of "cartoon" that is published in newspapers, but they are usually just called "comic strips". Some of the earliest comic strips areThe Katzenjammer Kids (1897) and Ginger Meggs (1921). Sometimes they represent animals like Garfield. Later comic strips from the 1950s onwards show superheros such asSuperman and The Phantom
Web Comics
Comic strips posted on the internet are web comics. While most web comics look just like comic strips, many web comics use the new technology of the internet. Some use animation and sound for special effects. Some web comics take up much more space than newspapers want to print, and most offer a large collection of earlier strips for new readers, so longer stories can be told. Many web comics are published (shown to people) by independent artists
Movie Cartoons
From the beginning of the movie industry, some artists began experimenting with making drawings that seemed to move. These moving drawings also became known as "cartoons". They often depict animals rather than humans. They were often just for fun, but sometimes, particularly during World War II, were used for political reasons, just like the cartoons in newspapers. Walt Disney and Warner Bros both made famous cartoons. Famous cartoon characters are Felix the Cat (1922), Mickey Mouse (1928), Bugs Bunny (1940) and Popeye(1929).
At first, movie cartoons were quite short. When a person bought a movie ticket, they would see a news program, two or three cartoons (in black and white) and a movie. Walt Disney then got the clever idea of telling a long story as a "cartoon". The first one that he made was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937). Movie cartoons (called "animations") soon became a popular type of entertainment. Modern animated movies are sometimes created using computer graphics, rather than hand-drawn cartoons. They include Toy Story (1995) and Shrek (2001).
At first, movie cartoons were quite short. When a person bought a movie ticket, they would see a news program, two or three cartoons (in black and white) and a movie. Walt Disney then got the clever idea of telling a long story as a "cartoon". The first one that he made was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937). Movie cartoons (called "animations") soon became a popular type of entertainment. Modern animated movies are sometimes created using computer graphics, rather than hand-drawn cartoons. They include Toy Story (1995) and Shrek (2001).
