Chewing Pencils

NAME:Peter Naismith
AGE: 52
LOCATION: Wodonga, Australia
SITE URL: http://www.thenutbankfiles.com

How long have you been drawing cartoons?

I started drawing cartoons twenty years ago and had a six month period where i got stuck into it but working shift work and having 5 kids under 6 really made it difficult to get some continuity in it.

What made you start to think more seriously about making some money out of it?

In the last six to twelve months me and my wife thought it would be great to travel around Australia in a winnebego and do itinerant work along the way, but i remembered when i used to draw in the younger days and thought it would be great if i could make money out of it as we travelled.

Have you done any formal training? If so, what and where?

I took a correspondence course years ago in cartooning through a group called ics in melbourne, but got a bit dissallusioned with it because everything i sent in got top marks even though i knew i wasn’t that good.

Where was your first cartoon published?

My first cartoon was published in the now defunct Australasian Post, i remember they were great supporters of cartoons with a double spread of cartoons in the middle pages and others spread throughout the publication.

What materials do you use to create your work?

I use felt tip pens for my drawings and like the pigmented type because of the depth of black they produce, when it comes to sending cartoons to publications i think they should reproduce more effectively

What hardware and software do you use?

I use photoshop elements and corel painter to finish my cartoons, my knowledge is fairly basic but as i’ve said i’m learning all the time through trial and error basically, though the tips on chewingpencils are fantastic

From where so you draw your inspiration?

I am inspired by other cartoonists most notably Randy McIllwaine and Mike Baldwin

What are some of the resources you’ve found most helpful?

Chewingpencils is probably my best resource i find it very helpfull when just starting out.

Matt: It didn’t cost me anything to have Peter say that!! Really…

What is the best piece of advice you have EVER been given? The worst?

I don’t really take any notice of advice unless it’s from other cartoonists who have been there done that. I have already received some good information from people like Dan Rosandich about how to get noticed on the net.

Take us through the process you use to create one of your drawings:

To draw a cartoon i first sketch out the scenario on a piece of office paper, tweaking it as i go to get the right effect and wording.

Then i scan into photoshop, clean it up with the eraser tool and save it as a tiff file. From there i use corel painter to color it and put in the wording before resizing and then saving it to the web

How long does it generally take to create one piece?

Depending on whether i’m drawing a strip or a single panel cartoon, it can take anywhere from an hour to three or four. to finish a drawing.

Usually i’m doing three or four things in the meantime like watching a show or cooking dinner

What do you find the hardest to draw?

I haven’t struck too many things i can’t draw as yet, usually with a bit of practice i can create something passable though i’m hopeless at caricatures.

What do your friends and family think of you being a cartoonist?

Family and friends think it’s good that I do what I do, my wife gets a laugh out of my cartoons but my friends don’t think i’m funny at all lol.

What do you think is the best part about being a cartoonist?

Definately the self satisfaction when you come up with an idea you think is funny, and then complete the cartoon.

What has been the standout post on Chewing Pencils for you? Why?

The post that has helped me the most i guess is the one about using photoshop and how to finish your work, and even though i’m still struggling with the layers part i know by going back over the instructions i’ll be able to produce more professional work in the future.

I think Peter means this post, even though it’s about Painter, not Photoshop.

Anything else you’d like to say….

It’s been good to get other cartoonists insights through the friday feature artist and i enjoy checking out their work online as well.