Chewing Pencils

Here’s the second instalment in Jason’s series on the business side of cartooning….
I work a day job.
It’s something I am good at but it’s not something I want to do forever. I would love to have enough money so I could draw part time and explore other opportunities in life which didn’t require me […]

This is the first in a short series on the business side of cartooning from Jason Frazer - enjoy! MG
How do we get ahead as cartoonists? Raise your hand if you do what you do because you love it. Now, keep your hand up if you think of your work like a business. Anybody still […]

Hi everyone, my name is Jason Frazer. I am a fellow cartoonist and owner of the website www.twistedmusings.com.au . Whilst cartooning is not my main profession, I have spent a number of years illustrating and drawing and my work has appeared in a few publications over that period of time. I have also […]

I’ve received numerous emails over the last few months from people wanting to know how they can make money from cartooning.
I don’t have a problem with that. Afterall, it’s the reason that Chewing Pencils was started in the first place!
What does frustrate me are those people who think I can tell them how to make […]

The term deadline is unfortunate.
When we engage a client and begin to work on a project, all parties involved are hoping for the best possible outcome. They want the cartoon or illustration to convey a message and to inspire a response. The worst possible outcome for a piece is that it not be noticed or […]

In the ideal world, a client would know what they want and would be able to communicate it to you clearly and effectively.
In the real world, clients have a vague idea of what they won’t, have no idea how to let you know and expect you to read their minds.
So, taking a brief, or a […]

You’re all set with your tax details.
You’ve marketed yourself and a client rings.
What the heck do you do now?!
As strange as it sounds, that first phone call or email often takes you by surprise. What we’ve dreamed about is now real, but it’s scary on all sorts of levels. We don’t want to scare them […]

I began this series with a post which talked about establishing yourself tax-wise to give yourself the best possible chance at landing some of the larger clients. In part 2, I will talk about some important ways of getting yourself out in the market and competing with some of the big guns in the cartoon […]

Urbanmonk asked a good question in the my first post about the business of cartooning:
I have a question.. If you have never done any paid work,are tentative about making a go of it etc.. does doing all the necessary tax and business work give you a head start in getting clients?
I know this probably […]

Over the next few weeks I’ll be working my way through a series that concentrates more closely on the business side of cartooning. The drawing side of cartooning we love. The business side, well that’s a different story.
To be a successful cartoonist means you can’t avoid getting your hands grubby with the negotiations, politics, arguments, […]