Not Staying In, Not Going Out - Part 2

 

Not Staying In, Not Going Out –  Part 2

 

Not Going Out

Well... it's almost the anniversary of the first Corona lockdown here in The Netherlands but I don't think many of us will be out on the streets celebrating. Anyway celebrating is not allowed and definitely not after the nine o'clock evening curfew! This last year, as I mentioned in my previous column, we have been allowed outdoors for exercise but, as nearly everything has been closed for at least part of that time, we have also had to find ways to entertain ourselves indoors. Anyway not everybody likes outdoor activities and sometimes it rains!

Reading, Netflix and redecorating seem to have become very popular. Along with jigsaw puzzles! I've never quite seen the point of these puzzles... I mean.. you've got the picture, it's there on the box!

Also there is a renewed interest in arts and crafts. Handwork of all sorts; knitting, ,sewing, embroidery, crocheting and so on. Many people I know have taken up painting. It is in the nature of things that many of these new, or born-again, painters will start explaining to me the pleasures of painting and drawing. It is in the nature of the Dutch character that soon some will be telling me what I should be doing and what I've been doing wrong all these years. Okay, perhaps I am being a little unfair, at times some have asked for advice.  

After training to be a civil engineer I went to a teachers training college to study teaching art. In the first year we had a go at everything. I discovered I had some talent for all the various disciplines. However I found painting, and especially oil painting, the least interesting and not just because I hated cleaning the brushes afterwards! I also learned at some point that I didn't really want to be a teacher. My career as a 'starving artist' was about to begin. What painting I did involved spray cans and enamel paint. Slowly after several years and many phases I evolved into a cartoonist. A cartoonist is a combination of draughtsman, writer, storyteller and/or journalist. Times have changed but until quite recently cartoonist were not considered to be 'proper' artists! So, any advice I could give may not be a lot of help to the potential painters among you.

Ah - but the two most frequently asked questions are not about technique, they are: 

1. How long does it take?  2. Where do my ideas come from?  I don't have a satisfactory answer to either of these questions.

I can give you an indication of what is involved. For example I have worked regularly for  trade magazines, if I'm lucky, I'll have about three days to produce a cartoon based on an article or news items I've been sent. I'll be scribbling ideas and making primitive sketches while reading the texts. These early ideas I'll store in my mind, then at least I have something, in case I can't come up with anything better. Sometimes I will have the idea almost at once, this will speed up the process greatly. However there are also times when nothing comes to me in the first instance. My mood is desperate as I explain to Yvonne, my partner, that this time I really am stuck, that I have no ideas, I don't understand the subject and there is absolutely no way I'll  get the cartoon done in time!  “Oh” she replies, showing little sympathy, “you'll think of something, you always do”...and she's right. There may be a lot of muttering, pacing up and down and a fair amount of coffee on the way, and I may well be working on one or more other things at the same time, but I will eventually find the clue!

Then the idea has to been transferred to paper. 

        

The first pencil sketch... 

... with the help of a light box a line drawing is traced based on the sketch... 

        

 

...back to the drawing board... where parts are coloured and lines accentuated by hand...

 

...then it's scanned into the computer...'cleaned up', maybe altered a little, mistakes corrected and the remaining areas coloured in digitally...

                 

                       
 ...the text is added... deadline met...and it's time for a beer! 

                  

Oh, but sorry, I nearly forgot the second question: where do the ideas come from?

I can't really help you there. All I can do is repeat a comment Yvonne once made and which became the punchline to one of my earliest columns:

“You have a twisted mind” she said!!!!