Sometimes it’s hard to think of the truly unexpected (which is what humor is largely based on), which is yet not so surprising upon reflection; but “fetching” his sword was up there.
Interesting angled first panel for “batman” style drama too. :)
Discussion (6) ¬
[ Comments RSS ]
I wondered how strip artists come up with things like this. It has to be: 1) superior creative mind; and/or: 2) a lot of time on one’s hands. :-)
@War Pig, for a me a lot of it is like having a conversation. You know how funny comments sometimes pop into your head during a conversation? It’s like that. I write a situation, and pretty quickly something funny pops into my head.
Then the real work begins: editing it, editing it, editing it. THAT’S where understanding he mechanics of humor comes in handy.
Heheheheheh keep on keeping on :)
Great.
I know it’s like that with writing. Good writing is all about good rewriting.
When I write; as I write; ideas pop into my head as well. Sometimes related to the subject at hand, sometimes not. I keep a pad and pencil next to the keyboard so I can jot them down as they appear.
Do you ever have a skit pop into your head, totally off subject, when doing a strip? Sort of, drawing the one above and while doing it; “Oh, wow, I just thought of a great joke for another strip about kites” for instance?
Works that way with me with words, didn’t know if it worked that way with images, too. Even when I drive along a country road, I keep a microrecorder with me, as I am liable to get an idea at odd times.
I tried art. I was fascinated by Bob Ross and bought stuff and tried it. I quickly found out that it isn’t near as easy as he made it look. So I stick to the written word, what I do best.
@War Pig, yeah, it is very much like that. Sitting down to “write a gag” is the toughest thing in the universe for me. Having a topic, and noodling with it, and the gags start writing themselves.
Do you have anything online to read? A link perhaps?
I do mostly ghostwriting and some speeches and technical writing. Of course, I do have a novel I’m working on, as all writers do. I may finish it before I die, but my grandson will probably have to get it published.
I imagine it is the same for cartoonists as for writers. Simply stare at a blank piece of paper until you sweat blood.
I use ghostwriting as a supplemental source of income. VA pensions & Army retirement checks aren’t all that generous. I get the subject matter, research it, look at the writer’s style and then get on it. I write, read it and rewrite it, several times, depending on deadline. I usually send it to the “author” and he/she looks it over, makes some changes and sends it back to be rewritten. Ditto for speeches.
I also write technical essays for students. Lots of college kids can research a project to death, know it inside and out, but can’t write a paper worth a darn. I take all their notes and their rough drafts and polish them up like an apple for the teacher. College profs are rated and you can find out what you want about them, their likes and dislikes, if you try hard. Many professors have students that come to me year after year and I know what the prof likes and doesn’t. The hard thing is not having a style that can be recognized. Same for ghostwriting and speech writing. For college papers it helps to have the student’s own notes and rough draft. Being a ghostwriter is being a chameleon. I do not fake the research or do my own research for them. I merely put the polish on a paper and flesh it out. Not cheating, as far as I see it. More like having a professional typist type your term paper back in the days of IBM Selectrics (TM) rather than fumbling through it yourself.
Unfortunately, being a ghostwriter is also like the mafia, the first rule is silence, so we never reveal for whom we write. Not if we want to keep on making money, that is; but you’d be surprised at the amount of material from otherwise well-known writers which is ghosted. I know a ghostwriter who has ghostwritten comedy sketches for several hit shows. I’ve never gotten a chance at that, but I’d like to try someday. I prefer doing what I do as I have more time for myself, the ones who ghostwrite for famous authors and Hollywood writers make a pile more cash, but most of them have ulcers, too.