4 ms·

Points on Cartooning (1937)

68 points by dxs 4y ago

unfairly4820 4y ago
Awesome find! Haha this is like the bible for cartoonists. It was one of the first books on the topic: Was one of the first books ever published on the art of cartooning. At the time of its publication, cartooning was not yet considered a serious art form, but the book helped to change that perception. It definitely features a lot of humor, like the author's humor is evident throughout the book, and he uses humorous illustrations to help explain his points. It's still relevant today, despite being published over 80 years ago, many of the tips and techniques in "Points on Cartooning" are still relevant to aspiring cartoonists today.
dylan604 4y ago
maybe this can be used to train stable diffusion to learn how to create hands
- nielsbot 4y ago
  The latest Midjourney claims to render credible hands cf. https://petapixel.com/2023/03/17/midjourney-v5-creates-photorealistic-images-and-even-does-hands-correctly/ https://petapixel.com/2023/03/17/midjourney-v5-creates-photo...
  - dylan604 4y ago
    making claims with no visual evidence seems suspect to me for a product that makes visual things
nielsbot 4y ago
I love the approach and drawing style.. but note that some of the caricatures are definitely dated, even though the text advises: "When picturing any certain type try to bring out the humorous qualities first and be careful not to poke fun in a manner to offend any particular nationality or creed."
- dmonitor 4y ago
  genuinely confused how the author/illustrator can include that sentence under their depiction of a black person. the lack of awareness is incredible.
  - khazhoux 4y ago
    I see these pictures and think "How did they possibly think black people's lips were that big??" But here's a different take: this is a visual language, and non-realistic by definition. Nobody's nose is shaped like a finger, as in every one of these cartoons. No one's eyes are blank disks. Heads aren't that big and bellies aren't that round. Yet we all understand how to read these cartoons. Maybe that's just how it was then too, and was just meant to convey "this is a black person." No ill will, no hate, no judgement.
    - dmonitor 4y ago
      just look at the depiction of a black person compared to a white person though. black person is just a blob with massive lips and eyes, while the white person has actual facial features
clsec 4y ago
My parents had a lot of old music and art books like this. It's where (along with strong influences from Don Martin & Antonio Prohías - MAD) I learned cartooning. Also, from dmonitor: >genuinely confused how the author/illustrator can include that sentence under their depiction of a black person. the lack of awareness is incredible. It was 1937. I was born in the 60's and Song of the South regularly played on the Sunday night Disney show. Racism was blatent back in the day, but also considered normal.
- aebtebeten 4y ago
  > Racism was blatent back in the day, but also considered normal. Luckily the threat of communism* convinced the DoD to desegregate... * for pre-Korea, cf https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9981 https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order... ; then there's the infamous Việt Nam-era "No VietCong ever called me nigger" (which should itself be compared with "Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain’t going to fix them.")
daralthus 4y ago
In a similar vein, the much much more elaborate book: Scott McCloud's - Making Comics, teaches more about visual communication than any other I came across. To single out an example: the chapter about picking which moments to frame, if you have 6 frames for a story, really did change the way I remember events from then on.
- 082349872349872 4y ago
  McCloud's distinction (in "Understanding Comics"?) between beginners seeing art style and aficionados seeing storytelling really hit home for me when viewed against computing: the aspects one considers relevant change with experience.
amelius 4y ago
This is from 1937, but in 2037 a similar book will probably go like "use this prompt to get this effect, use that prompt to get that effect, ..."

68 points by dxs 4y ago

Awesome find! Haha this is like the bible for cartoonists. It was one of the first books on the topic: Was one of the first books ever published on the art of cartooning. At the time of its publication, cartooning was not yet considered a serious art form, but the book helped to change that perception. It definitely features a lot of humor, like the author's humor is evident throughout the book, and he uses humorous illustrations to help explain his points. It's still relevant today, despite being published over 80 years ago, many of the tips and techniques in "Points on Cartooning" are still relevant to aspiring cartoonists today.

dylan604 4y ago

maybe this can be used to train stable diffusion to learn how to create hands

nielsbot 4y ago
The latest Midjourney claims to render credible hands cf. https://petapixel.com/2023/03/17/midjourney-v5-creates-photorealistic-images-and-even-does-hands-correctly/ https://petapixel.com/2023/03/17/midjourney-v5-creates-photo...
- dylan604 4y ago
  making claims with no visual evidence seems suspect to me for a product that makes visual things

nielsbot 4y ago

I love the approach and drawing style.. but note that some of the caricatures are definitely dated, even though the text advises: "When picturing any certain type try to bring out the humorous qualities first and be careful not to poke fun in a manner to offend any particular nationality or creed."

dmonitor 4y ago
genuinely confused how the author/illustrator can include that sentence under their depiction of a black person. the lack of awareness is incredible.
- khazhoux 4y ago
  I see these pictures and think "How did they possibly think black people's lips were that big??" But here's a different take: this is a visual language, and non-realistic by definition. Nobody's nose is shaped like a finger, as in every one of these cartoons. No one's eyes are blank disks. Heads aren't that big and bellies aren't that round. Yet we all understand how to read these cartoons. Maybe that's just how it was then too, and was just meant to convey "this is a black person." No ill will, no hate, no judgement.
  - dmonitor 4y ago
    just look at the depiction of a black person compared to a white person though. black person is just a blob with massive lips and eyes, while the white person has actual facial features

clsec 4y ago

My parents had a lot of old music and art books like this. It's where (along with strong influences from Don Martin & Antonio Prohías - MAD) I learned cartooning. Also, from dmonitor: >genuinely confused how the author/illustrator can include that sentence under their depiction of a black person. the lack of awareness is incredible. It was 1937. I was born in the 60's and Song of the South regularly played on the Sunday night Disney show. Racism was blatent back in the day, but also considered normal.

aebtebeten 4y ago
> Racism was blatent back in the day, but also considered normal. Luckily the threat of communism* convinced the DoD to desegregate... * for pre-Korea, cf https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9981 https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order... ; then there's the infamous Việt Nam-era "No VietCong ever called me nigger" (which should itself be compared with "Lots of things wrong with America, but Hitler ain’t going to fix them.")

daralthus 4y ago

In a similar vein, the much much more elaborate book: Scott McCloud's - Making Comics, teaches more about visual communication than any other I came across. To single out an example: the chapter about picking which moments to frame, if you have 6 frames for a story, really did change the way I remember events from then on.

082349872349872 4y ago
McCloud's distinction (in "Understanding Comics"?) between beginners seeing art style and aficionados seeing storytelling really hit home for me when viewed against computing: the aspects one considers relevant change with experience.

amelius 4y ago

This is from 1937, but in 2037 a similar book will probably go like "use this prompt to get this effect, use that prompt to get that effect, ..."