In the olden days –the first half of the 20th century-- if you wanted to become a cartoonist you would find few places that offered formal training in comic art (Unlike today. Now students can study cartooning, animation or the aesthetics of the graphic novel at a variety of institutions including the Center for Cartoon Studies, CalArts and the Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art).
Young hopefuls used to rely on correspondence art schools such as the Landon School of Illustration and Cartooning, Correspondence Institute of America, W.L.Evans School of Cartooning or they purchased one of the many how-to instruction booklets.
Below is a sampling from my archives of some early cartoon instruction books:
 |
| This one is by George Lichty 1944 |
 |
| This series is by the great George Carlson |
 |
Dorman H. Smith was a fine editorial cartoonist.
He lived out the latter years of his life right here in Fairfax, Ca. |
 |
| 1938 |
Billy Hon from 1927
 |
| A caricature of Billy Hon by San Francisco cartoonist Douglas Rodger |
 |
| Someone left clear evidence of the cartooning student learning curve. |
 |
| Frank Webb 1948 |
 |
Chuck Thorndike published numerous such booklets.
This one is from 1936 |
 |
Ed Cullen's ultra-strange Kartoon Kadoodler concept.
It comes with a plastic "Kadoodler" template. 1951
|
 |
by J.A. Patterson
|
 |
| from Cartoonist's Exchange 1941 |
 |
| by Gerald Findler. Published in London. |
 |
| by Charles Stoner 1941 |
 |
by veteran Chas. Kuhn the creator of the Grandma comic strip.
This one is from 1921
|
Hello Larry and Molly, This morning I decided (out of the blue) to search 'Kartoon Kadoodler.' How delightful to find your post. Ed Cullen was my grandfather, and my sister, Michele, is in the photograph (notice her RAD zig-zag bangs that she cut herself.) Our mother was furious that PoP had let her be in the portrait with such an uncouth hair cut. Nana, Pop, the Kadoodler (which sold for 25¢) and much more form very significant memories of childhood for both of us.
ReplyDeleteP.S. The School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC was founded in the 1940s as a school of cartooning.
Hello Molly,
DeleteThanks for your comment. Pardon my extreme tardiness. I meant to respond to your comments over a year ago!
I have quite a collection of cartoonist instruction books and Ed Cullen’s Kartoon Kadoodler is a prized possession.
Here’s a remarkable coincidence. My wife, Molly Rea, is the granddaughter of a cartoonist as well. Rea Irvin- who had a long career working on newspapers and magazines but is best remembered for the first New Yorker (the so called “Eustace Tilley” cover). And Rea Irvin also lived in Newtown, Connecticut. (I wonder if they ever crossed paths ?)
Molly was raised in San Francisco had rarely ever saw her grandfather but she did visit Newtown a few times.
Thanks again,
Larry and Molly
Your blog is too much amazing. I have found with ease what I was looking. Moreover, the content quality is awesome. Thanks for the nudge! cartoonshow
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. I’ve been thinking about writing a very comparable post over the last couple of weeks, I’ll probably keep it short and sweet and linkto this instead if thats cool. Thanks. Watch movies online free
ReplyDelete