The Tao of Cartooning
Transcendence and cartooning... my yin and yang ☯️
Last week I received two packages from Amazon on the same day. Both were gifts. Both were books. One book explores the Tao, and the other book is a cartoon biography of Ernie Bushmiller, the creator of Nancy, by Bill Griffith, the creator of Zippy the Pinhead. How serendipitous is that? My two great fascinations, transcendence and cartoons, in a two-book nutshell, on the same day. Thank you, my benefactors!
So what is the relationship between transcendence and cartooning?
Hmmm... I can make up a story about how they are connected. They are connected because when you make art you allow transcendent energy to flow through you. That’s what makes it art—it shimmers with the glow of how it came to be. Call it an afterglow.
Art is a physical byproduct of transcendence. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it is the result of dedication and craft guided by transcendence.
And while we’re here, let’s think about what transcendence actually means. Why does a book that reflects the Tao represent transcendence to me? Here’s the definition in my computer’s dictionary:
existence or experience beyond the normal or physical level: the possibility of spiritual transcendence in the modern world.
That doesn’t say much. It’s a what, not how, explanation. (If we knew the ‘how’ we’d all be doing it.) The words used to describe the meaning of transcendence: above, beyond, outside of, etc. suggest escape from some kind of parameter or boundary.
Transcendence is the quality of being able to go beyond normal limits or boundaries.
The definition above at least admits that to experience transcendence I have to ‘be able’ to go beyond limits; it’s a process. I don’t see it as an action as much as an allowing. I’m not a hero hacking away at the tall malignant hedge of my limitations; I’m letting that image soften and fade so that I can see what lies beyond the hedge.
Both definitions use the word ‘normal’ to mean something we all agree upon. We most certainly don’t. Our present culture is dominated by arguments about what is and isn’t normal… It’s not a done deal.
I agree that transcendence refers to going beyond one’s own usual limitations of seeing, feeling. ‘Normal’ has nothing to do with it.
Going beyond one’s usual limitations can be a way of life, even a habit. It’s a habit that artists have. It’s not magic; it’s a kind of courage. You tell your self-imposed fear-based mental and emotional limitations to STFU. At least for a while. You allow space within yourself. The space of not knowing.
Merriam-Webster defines ‘Tao’ as: the unconditional and unknowable source and guiding principle of all reality as conceived by Taoists. Notice the word ‘unknowable’ there? Contemplating the Tao, with some faith that what is unknowable is also the guiding principle of all reality helps to create interior space. Interior space is like a radio… it picks up signals. The signal is always there.
Why I am drawn to cartooning, and more on the meaning of words.
I am drawn to cartooning in more ways than one. I have an urge to simplify and amplify for the purpose of communication. I have an urge for clarity of intent. These go together. Simplification that is not based on clarity of intent misses its point and its chance.
When I write I often struggle to come up with the right word or phrase—one that suggests a physical dynamic that syncs closely enough with the emotional or psychological dynamic I want to express. It’s so easy to come up with clichés that express my meaning about as well as a big fat crayon expresses my vision of a delicate pen and ink drawing.
Take the sentence above. First I wrote: “I am doomed to be a cartoonist, in more ways than one.” I decided that the whole doom thing was misleading and too dramatic for no good reason. What I was trying to get at was the sense of inevitability, but doom was wrong. Then I wrote: “I have a bent towards cartooning…” Close, but not quite a cigar yet.
Then I decided that saying, “I bend towards” was better because it’s a more active statement that implies both a natural tendency, as plants bend towards the sun, and also an act of will. And there is a subtle suggestion of a bow, which I like.
But ‘I am drawn to’ is the winner. I draw cartoons; cartoons draw me.
Cartooning is a language that uses words and pictures in a multitude of ways. There’s not one way to do it, but the best cartoons are almost like the visual equivalent of math: they express their meaning precisely, with no wasted effort, no fat, no debris. At a granular level, each line, each stroke holds specific meaning.
While cartooning is an exercise in simplification of complexity, it is equally an exercise in precision, in distillation.
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
Thomas Jefferson
I made these two cartoons a while back. Neither is political, though the one about greenwashing comes close. They are observations of culture and human nature.
What is a good name for cartoons which are not political, but make a point, subtle or overt… any suggestions?
I have mixed feelings about political cartoons. The best political cartoons are also observations of culture and human nature. They are a form of commentary, and when they work, they have the power to take the place of a thousand words, or at least a few hundred.
I guess you could call this a political cartoon…
Notes on process…
The cartoon above is a messy mixture of techniques and tools. I’m still experimenting when it comes to combining hand drawing and computer manipulation. I’ve been experimenting with this for years, using drawing/painting on paper as elements for digital illustration.
Now I am searching for a standardized workflow for the cartoons I want to make. This cartoon started as a pencil drawing with some pencil shading. I used a pen to make some black lines. After I digitized it I started working in Photoshop filling spaces with tones, and trying other things.
Once I have my basic drawing in place and digitized, the criteria shifts from specificity of meaning and spatial design to an intuitive sense of balance, of what works and what doesn’t. It’s so easy to slightly darken or lighten or change the color of any bounded area. It’s so easy to move things around if you use layers. Intuition is strengthened and supported by this ease.
These are options that are not necessarily possible with pencil, ink, and paint, especially the watercolors I like to use. It’s how life should be. You screw up, you see something new, or you get a better idea, and then you just do it. No blame, no shame.
My original plan was that this image would be completely grayscale except for touches of red, and green on the traffic light. But then I decided that Trump’s face and hair just don’t look right without the orange and gold tints. I should have gone further with that. (And I still could, because it’s Photoshop!)
I know as little about where this visual process will lead me as I know about where this publication is going. I am trusting that I don’t need to know. I am trusting that the doing is the becoming.