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Cartooning as Career : Illustrate Your Creative Profession

A creative field mentors an individual to play with his / her imaginations. Cartooning is one of such activities that establish a creativity notch on an issue that needs a look of concern.

An artist produces images of entertaining values for a story based on a central idea or a character. It being a more artistic career choice needs to be more entertaining and interactive with the audience. Though it is always difficult to gain a success form a comedy scene or image, hence the cartoonist needs to sharpen up his skills with regard to audience imagination. Coming to the occupation guidelines, it is quite difficult to hold a full-time cartoon artist job; hence many do take it as a freelancing option or part time even.

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Level of Education

A degree in Cartooning is readily available in various colleges, universities and even online education is associated for the same. Mostly such degrees are found in art and design schools across the world.

-While most provide a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Cartooning, Illustration, or Illustration & Cartooning. Some other are enumerated below.

-Diploma in Fine Art

Masters in Fine Art (Illustration / Portrait Painting)

Course Insights

Majorly the course includes three aspects- drawing and painting to storytelling.

The list of course structure can be highlighted in the given manner-

  • Painting I & II,
  • Drawing I & II,
  • Sculpture,
  • Principles of Cartooning I & II,
  • History of Cartooning, Storytelling,
  • Digital Coloring for Cartoonists,
  • Visual Computing,
  • Drawing with Ink for Cartoonists,
  • Pastel Techniques,
  • Figurative Sculpture,
  • Pictorial Problems
  • Acrylic Painting

Types of Cartooning

There is always a variety in every aspect of a broad subject; same does follow for cartooning as well.

  • General Humour Cartooning
  • Political Cartooning
  • Children Cartooning
  • Editorial Cartooning
  • Economic/Science Cartooning
  • Computer Graphics-Based Cartooning / Animation

 Where it leads?

-Newspapers and Magazines :

Various dailies do have columns for cartoons, caricatures and other features columns on a regular basis.  There is always a high potential of requirement for cartoonists on a regular or contract basis for children’s magazines.

-Game Industry:

Many game manufacturing factories, toys and other entertaining services do need cartoonist to provide a proper approach to the products with the usage of new characters and correct depiction.

-Animation film studies :

Film industries and animated series even have a huge demand for such creative minds to portray their screen well for the audience. Cartoonists form the backbone for 2D animation. Again there is a new rave of using cartoons in advertising and PR agencies as well.

-Television Production Companies :

The television industry today caters to maximum audience and again there is a categorization in the same. With small children making it big with the small screen industry, producers tend to invest more o the cartoon professionals and invents characters for channels like Disney, Pogo and other cartoon network. There is a flood of animated programmes on the TV channels. With the advent of specific cartoon channels like Cartoon Network, Disney and Pogo, only the sky is the limit of the cartoonists.

-Free Lancing :

The habit on being on a part time or freelancing basis is high in this profession and again it pays well as such.

Few titles for the makers

  • artist/cartoonist,
  • illustrator,
  • comic strip illustrator,
  • caricature artist,
  • editorial cartoonist,
  • background/layout artist,
  • studio background artist,
  • storyboard artist,
  • pencil model sheet artist and
  • morph artist.

Salary structure

As per the Bureau of Labor Statistics the annual salary of a cartoonist is around $30,000 to $60,000 a year.

A cartoonist with good storyboard knowledge will also usually make a good annual salary.

Educational Criteria for a Cartooning Career

There is no formula or rules to be in this profession. Creativity and progress with the storyboard forms the major chunk to have a well processed career in the same.

Institutes in India Offering Cartooning Courses

Institutes Across the Globe

Online Schools

Few Well Admired Schools

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