# Cartoons (nonanimated):Raw Talent seeks advice from those who know what they're doing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 20, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-nonanimated-raw-talent-seeks-advice-from-those-who-know-what-theyre-doing/361493 "2006-06-20T23:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2006, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-nonanimated-raw-talent-seeks-advice-from-those-who-know-what-theyre-doing/361493/1 "2006-06-20T23:05:26Z")
For my own personal amusment, and for the amusement of my friends, I have ever since grade school been drawing warped little cartoons. Lately I’m starting to feel like I’d like to start submitting some cartoons to some online and alternative press. I’m not specifically trying to launch a career, I just think it’d be cool to get something out there. Not directly, but through a few proxies, I know some people who write for some small music publications. Publications that either don’t pay their writers or don’t pay their writers nearly enoug to live on. That’s the kind of thing I’m thinking of. Just for the sake of discussion, let’s assume that these two basic beliefs that I have in my own abilities are true: [ul] [li]My sense of humor and point of view are unique enough to interest and amuse people[/li][li]My drawings are unique enough and technically well crafted enough to catch the eye and amuse[/li][li]Leave Opal alone, hasn’t she been mercilessly ridiculed enough by now![/li][/ul] What I don’t know about is how to prepare my work in a professional way both for presentation in a portfolio kind of a way and how to prepare it if I actually get to submit some for publication. My history for this kind of thing is to just scribble something out with a pen and piece of paper. Professional artists always have everything so neat and clean looking, boxes have nice right angles at the corners, pieces are mounted very pretty on harder stock paper or poster board. I don’t know anything about any of this. Oh! and I’ve never done any art on a computer _whatsoever_- not even taking “red eye” out of photos. So, folks in the know, educate me. Where to I start? ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-nonanimated-raw-talent-seeks-advice-from-those-who-know-what-theyre-doing/361493/2 "2006-06-21T16:30:23Z")
The “one bump” privilege has been used! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-nonanimated-raw-talent-seeks-advice-from-those-who-know-what-theyre-doing/361493/3 "2006-06-21T16:44:45Z")
I can’t help you with the dead-wood-style publications, but[Keenspot](http://keenspot.com/services.html) offers free hosting for online comics. Or you could just set up your own website and put your comics on it, and hope you get noticed. The cool thing about internet cartoons is that the entry bar is absurdly low. Anyone can jump in and start making webcomics. Of course, this is also the bad thing about webcomics: anyone can jump in and start making webcomics. If you’re good enough, you might get picked up by one of the premium online comic sites, like Modern Tales, Graphic Smash, or Blank Label, at which point you might start seeing some actual revenue for your efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-nonanimated-raw-talent-seeks-advice-from-those-who-know-what-theyre-doing/361493/4 "2006-06-21T23:04:14Z")
Jin Wicked used to be a Doper and can probably offer advice. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoons-nonanimated-raw-talent-seeks-advice-from-those-who-know-what-theyre-doing/361493/5 "2006-06-21T23:08:20Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > My history for this kind of thing is to just scribble something out with a pen and piece of paper. Professional artists always have everything so neat and clean looking, boxes have nice right angles at the corners, pieces are mounted very pretty on harder stock paper or poster board. I don’t know anything about any of this. Oh! and I’ve never done any art on a computer _whatsoever_- not even taking “red eye” out of photos. If you don’t want to do it on a computer, get a light box, some Pigma Micron pens and a pad of bristol from your **local** art supply store. Tape down the original and a sheet of the bristol oever it and go to town. Someone working (or shopping) at the atore should be able to give you pointers on inking your drawings.