I am a Material Boy

One of the frustrations of living the cartoonist's life is finding drawing materials you are comfortable working with. 

Since I still have not started using computer-type programs for generating my work, I still use the ol' fashioned pen and ink products. Which ones to use, though? A stroll through any art supply store will present you with a plethora of pens, pencils, brushes and the like. Finding one you enjoy using is difficult. It's a lot like dating: It's hard to find the perfect match.

One problem is that the manufacturers of art supplies are constantly changing their products. Just when you find a drawing instrument you are comfortable with, the makers "tweak" the design. The pencil you loved using is now a piece of crap, so your search for usable tools continues. (Wow! That dating analogy is really apt!)

I used to be really "old school" when it came to drawing, using dip pens and brushes and bottles of India ink, but the quality levels of the tools I was using declined rapidly, so I switched to working with markers.

A lot of cartoonists turn their nose up at markers as if it's cheating. It's true in a way. However, marker technology has improved a lot over the last few years, and there are markers out there that give me results as good as any dip-pen ever did.

In case you are interested, my favorite marker is the Pigma Micron™ marker. They have a wide range of nib sizes, and the ink is archival, so if you proudly frame and display your work, the ink won't fade. For you fans of inking with a brush, the Sigma™ brush marker, from the same company is great, too.

If you are one of those poor unfortunate souls doing caricatures at parties and the like, the go-to marker has always been a Dixon Markette™. These are hard to find in the US of A, though, so caricaturists are always on the lookout for that perfect pen for live gigs. Something that produces a nice line weight and dries quickly. For years, I used a Sharpie Rub-A-Dub pen. It was okay, but the tip wore out too quickly for my tastes. A better choice is the Marvy Fabric Ball & Brush™ pen. My pal John turned me on to these, and they really are good to use. Not perfect though. Recently, I have returned to my Sharpie roots, only this time, I use the Sharpie Chisel Tip™ marker. These are great! You can get all kindza line weights, the ink doesn't smear, and best of all, they're cheap! If you are a "live" caricaturist, you really should check these out.

When I am just doodling for myself, though, I love the Papermate Flair™ pens. I don't recommend them for professional work, though. They fade too quickly. A shame, as they produce a really beautiful line.

Of course, sooner than later we won't even be using paper and pen to draw cartoons. Everything will be created on the computer.

Then they'll change the computer.

The White Glove Test

Not that it will come as a big surprise to anyone out there, but I love "classic" animated cartoons! "Classic" meaning the wonderful theatrical shorts that were made for and shown in movie theatres until television reared its ugly head and killed them all.

I am not fussy. I pretty much like them all. I love the classic Looney Tunes, the Disney shorts, the gorgeous MGM cartoons, and all the others. I can even enjoy the Famous studio shorts and even Terrytoons. (Well, that might be a stretch. I do love Heckle and Jeckle, though!)

By watching cartoons my whole life and reading every behind the scenes book I could find about them, I feel I can answer just about any question on animated shorts posed to me. Who is Shamus Culhane? I know that. Who was the voice of the Baby Bear in the Warner 3 Bears cartoons? Duh, Stan Freberg. I even know all the words to Bugs Bunny's square dance in "Hillbilly Hare"! (You can guess how much fun I am when I am liquored up!)

Even with my vast knowledge of cartoon trivia, there is one question that I do not know the answer to:  

WHY DO SO MANY CARTOON CHARACTERS WEAR WHITE GLOVES WITH THREE STRIPES ON THE BACK?!

Mickey Mouse wears them. So does Goofy. As do Bugs, Porky, Woody, Mighty and a whole bunch more. Even incidental characters, including politically incorrect African natives wear them, but why?

I know that at the turn of the century, many gentlemen wore dress gloves. More often than the "gentlemen" of today, at least. Did they wear them all the time, though? Were they always white?

There is probably a simple explanation for this. Mutt & Jeff were very popular when animated cartoons were born (they even starred in a bunch), and they wore the gloves. Maybe early animators liked the way they looked on them, so they included gloves on the characters they created. Cartoonists often rely on formulas for drawing, so maybe the white glove became yet another formula they included when they were designing a new character. It could also be an aesthetic choice. In creating "black" characters like Mickey and Goofy, they might have slapped on the gloves so the characters hands stood out. Indeed, Mr. Mouse was glove less in his early films. This doesn't explain Bugs, Woody and the rest though.

We will probably never get an answer to this question, so unless any of you out there have the definitive answer, we'll let this topic rest, and turn our attention to more pressing questions.

Such as: IF PLUTO AND GOOFY ARE BOTH DOGS, WHY CAN'T PLUTO TALK?