Chewing Pencils

I thought it would be good to see how the cartoonists from our Christmas Cartoon Drawing Project have gone with selling their work.
I’ve had my cartoon appear on a few web sites and blogs, but nothing of any real note. I’ve submitted it to a couple of publications but have yet to hear back - I’m taking […]

When you’re converting your images for web display, remember to reduce the resolution down to 72dpi (dots per inch). This is the maximum resolution that screens display - anything greater makes your files unnecessarily large, increases down load time and makes your work look ‘jaggy’.
To change the resolution of your work, look for an option called […]

A few people have asked me recently about the electronic tablet I use to produce my work. I’ve said a few times now that I rarely, if ever, produce work using traditional media these days. It’s all 100% digital using my tablet, computer and software.
The tablet I use is a Wacom Intuos2 9×12 (website) that […]

While your website is a showcase for your work and a main point of contact for potential clients, it can also generate some additional income for you in the form of advertising. You might have noticed that over the life time of Chewing Pencils I have experimented with a number of different advertisers, with varying […]

Method 4:- Unsolicited Submissions
This is one of those strange methods of selling cartoons that seems to be a gold mine for some artists but a constant source of frustration for others. Basically, it entails sending off a bunch of your cartoons to an editor or publisher in the hope that they will like what […]

I stumbled across Adam Phillips’ animation project today - 30 Days: 30 Shorts.
Put simply, it’s brilliant!!
Thirty brief animations produced in thirty days. I’d be happy if I could produce one of that quality in the same time! If you haven’t already, check it out here.
Number 6 is my favourite…

One of the best ways to generate ideas and to sell your cartoons is to focus your drawing on themes that you are interested in or passionate about. For instance, the best person to draw cartoons that appeal to the sense of humour of somebody involved in growing bonsai trees is the cartoonist who also […]

One of the things that I have found to enhance my style was to do away with the concept of producing a draft version of my cartoons.
Let me say upfront that I do still mess around with different concepts on a sketch pad. But it is now a rare thing for me to produce a […]

Fellow Aussie cartoonist Mick Ward sent this to Chewing Pencils:
I have been casually drawing cartoons for as long as I remember and finally at the age of 35 with family of three young children, would you believe I think now is the time to ramp things up and get some work. I’ve been offered some […]

Ming from ArtMaker was the winner of the first Chewing Pencils Group Drawing Project. If you missed it, the aim of the project was to draw a cartoon with a Christmas theme that contained the world ‘blog’ in it somewhere. Darren Rowse from ProBlogger was the judge and he chose Ming’s from a total of […]