Responsibilities a cartoonist should always remember while drawing

Responsibilities a cartoonist should always remember while drawing

A cartoonist picks a subject and presents it to the audience with simple sketches integrating good humor with the subject matter. The cartoon may involve comments from the cartoonist or may be able to convey its message in itself. This is a very sensitive job as a cartoon may easily breach the boundary of good humor and can be malicious. In this situation, it is very important that you remain objective and refrain from commenting with an angel or agenda. Here are the key points you should remember as a cartoonist:

1. Understand your job – Do not make it about anything else than your job. You are not supposed to bring change in the society. Your job is just to point out the cliches of your chosen story with a fun angel. You need not pass a verdict or decide anything on your own.
2. Be Creative – A cartoonist is not supposed to present whatever happening around with a pun. Instead, the cartoonist should pick up really important events and connect them with something more familiar to present your idea. You should free to choose from any conventional or unconventional reference to establish your connection.
3. Do not have an agenda –  It is tough to set aside your ideas and work impartially regardless of any amount of spite you may have for the particular idea you are drawing but it is your job. You should be comfortable in dealing with any sensitive issue while being to bring out a smile on the face of any person regardless of his ideological disposition.
4. Be simple – You should be able to convey your story with a minimum number of frames in the simplest way. The best cartoons are those which convey the message with just one frame. If the comments are needed they should be concise and understandable to the audience with the minimum background knowledge of the subject.
5. Don’t forget the most important thing – Don’t ever forget what is the real objective of drawing a cartoon. It is to bring a smile on the faces of your audience, present them a visual treat, and present the subject in a very unique way.
6. Responsibility towards the forgotten – A cartoonist should not just take a famous subject for the drawing. A cartoonist is an unbiased journalist who has even more responsibility towards the sidelined issues. As a cartoonist is able to gather interest with his or her unique skills and not due to the subject matter alone. He/she can bring a totally forgotten subject to the fore.