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What Is Cartooning?

Cartooning is the art of creating cartoons — drawings that use simplified, exaggerated, or stylized forms to convey humor, tell stories, express opinions, or illustrate concepts. From single-panel newspaper cartoons to multi-panel comic strips to animated features, cartooning is one of the most widely consumed art forms on Earth, even if people rarely think of it as “art.”

More Than Funny Drawings

The word “cartoon” originally meant a full-size preparatory drawing for a painting, fresco, or mix — serious art prep work. The meaning shifted in the 1840s when the British humor magazine Punch began publishing satirical drawings and calling them “cartoons” mockingly. The joke stuck, and now the word primarily means humorous or simplified illustration.

But cartooning has always been about more than laughs. Editorial cartoons have shaped political opinion since at least the 18th century — Thomas Nast’s cartoons helped bring down New York’s corrupt Tammany Hall in the 1870s. Boss Tweed reportedly said, “Stop them damn pictures. I don’t care what the papers write about me. My constituents can’t read. But they can see pictures.”

That power hasn’t diminished. Editorial cartoons still condense complex political situations into single images that communicate faster than any essay.

Types of Cartooning

Editorial/Political Cartoons

Single-panel drawings commenting on current events, typically published in newspapers and online publications. The form demands the ability to distill a political situation into one image — usually with caricature, metaphor, and minimal text. Pulitzer Prizes have been awarded for editorial cartooning since 1922.

The job has gotten harder as newspaper staffing shrinks. In 2008, roughly 80 full-time editorial cartoonists worked at U.S. newspapers. By 2023, that number had dropped below 30. Many now work independently, distributing through syndication, social media, and Substack.

Comic Strips

Multi-panel sequential cartoons, traditionally published daily in newspapers. Peanuts (Charles Schulz, 1950-2000) ran for 50 years and appeared in over 2,600 newspapers worldwide. Calvin and Hobbes (Bill Watterson, 1985-1995) is widely considered the form’s artistic peak, combining gorgeous watercolor Sunday strips with genuinely philosophical content.

The newspaper comic strip is a constrained form — typically 3-4 panels in a fixed format. That constraint forces economy: every line, every word must earn its place. The best strip cartoonists are remarkable editors of their own work.

Webcomics

The internet removed the gatekeeper (newspaper syndication) and the format constraints (panel count, size, content restrictions). Webcomics range from stick-figure humor (xkcd) to elaborate illustrated narratives (Gunnerkrigg Court). The business model shifted from syndication fees to advertising, merchandise, and direct reader support through Patreon and similar platforms.

Some webcomics reach enormous audiences. xkcd gets millions of readers per strip. The Oatmeal built a media business from webcomics. Webtoon, the Korean webcomic platform, reports over 80 million monthly active users globally.

Gag Cartoons

Single-panel cartoons with a caption, the format synonymous with The New Yorker magazine. Gag cartooning is joke-writing with drawing ability — the challenge is finding a single image-and-caption combination that’s funny. The New Yorker receives roughly 500 cartoon submissions weekly and publishes about 17.

Caricature

Exaggerated portraits that capture a person’s essential features while distorting proportions for comic or expressive effect. Theme park caricaturists, courtroom sketch artists (a related skill), and political cartoonists all use caricature. The skill requires understanding facial structure well enough to know which features to exaggerate — it’s harder than realistic portraiture in some ways.

Cartooning Technique

Line quality — Cartooning lives and dies on line work. Clean, confident lines read clearly at any size. Varying line weight (thicker lines for outlines, thinner for details) creates visual hierarchy. The difference between amateur and professional cartooning is often visible in the lines alone.

Character design — Creating characters that are distinctive, expressive, and drawable consistently across thousands of panels or frames. Good character design makes characters recognizable in silhouette. Charlie Brown’s round head, Garfield’s lasagna-shaped body, Calvin’s spiky hair — each is instantly identifiable.

Expression — Cartoons communicate emotion through simplified facial expressions. Eyebrow angle, mouth shape, and eye size convey happiness, anger, surprise, confusion, and dozens of other emotions using just a few lines. Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics analyzes how cartoonists manipulate these elements brilliantly.

Timing and pacing — In comic strips, the arrangement of panels, the pause between images, and the placement of the punchline control comedic timing just as surely as a stand-up comedian’s delivery does. The final panel is the most important — it must land.

Tools

Traditional cartooning tools include Bristol board (smooth, heavy paper), dip pens and nibs (for variable line weight), brushes (for bold lines), and India ink (permanent, deep black). These tools have produced virtually every classic cartoon and comic.

Digital tools now dominate professional cartooning. Drawing tablets (Wacom, iPad with Apple Pencil) with software like Clip Studio Paint, Procreate, or Photoshop provide infinite undo, easy resizing, and direct-to-web publishing. Many cartoonists sketch traditionally and ink digitally, combining the organic feel of pencil with digital precision.

The transition hasn’t changed the fundamental skills — you still need to draw, compose, and tell visual stories. The tools just make revision easier and reproduction perfect.

Cartooning as Communication

Here’s what people miss about cartooning: it’s arguably the most efficient communication medium humans have invented. A single editorial cartoon communicates a political position in two seconds. A comic strip tells a complete story with emotional impact in four panels. Animation conveys character and narrative in ways that live-action film sometimes can’t match.

This efficiency comes from cartooning’s core technique — simplification. By stripping away photographic detail and keeping only what matters, cartoons let viewers fill in the gaps with their own imagination. A few curved lines become a smile. Two dots and an arc become a face. The simpler the drawing, the more universal the identification.

That’s why stick figures work. That’s why emoji work. That’s why a child’s drawing of their family is immediately readable. Cartooning isn’t a lesser form of realistic art — it’s a different communication system entirely, and in terms of speed and emotional directness, it’s often superior.

Frequently Asked Questions

What skills do you need for cartooning?

Drawing ability (especially figure drawing and facial expressions), visual storytelling, sense of humor or editorial perspective, and consistency (maintaining character appearances across panels or episodes). Digital skills are increasingly important — most professional cartoonists now work at least partly digitally. Writing ability matters as much as drawing for strip and editorial cartooning.

Can you make a living as a cartoonist?

Yes, but the paths have shifted. Traditional newspaper syndication pays less than it once did. Webcomics can generate income through advertising, merchandise, and platforms like Patreon. Editorial cartoonists work for publications. Animation studios employ character designers and storyboard artists. Freelance illustration and commissioned work provide additional income streams.

What is the difference between a cartoon and a comic?

The terms overlap significantly. A cartoon typically refers to a single-panel drawing (editorial cartoons, gag cartoons) or animated content. A comic usually means a multi-panel sequential narrative (comic strips, comic books, graphic novels). In practice, most people use the terms interchangeably for non-animated drawn content.

Further Reading

• National Cartoonists Society
• The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
• Encyclopedia Britannica - Cartoon