I don’t draw enough animals to make it easy. Fortunately, some animals are born cartoon characters: squirrels, ducks, cats, penguins. In my experience, birds not so much. Birds are really hard to caricature convincingly. Charles Schulz himself spoke to this. He probably did more with birds than any cartoonist, but they didn’t really take off at first. Early in their relationship with Snoopy, the birds were drawn rather realistically. Schulz was not pleased with the results, until he began to give them a cartoonish appearance, along with giving one little yellow bird in particular a name. The only cat given a recurring role in Peanuts, World War III, always appeared offstage, because Schulz finally decided he didn’t draw cats very well. (Remember Frieda’s cat?) Maybe I’m in good company.
32 responses to “Nuts about You”
I found your comments interesting as many artists try to make the subject as realistic as possible but many of the great ones tend to interpret or exaggerate features that distinguish it from a photograph. In drawing cartoons, you really have more leeway and I think we are all glad Mr. Schultz made that discovery.
JJ,
Why don’t you draw a WAR EAGLE and feature it for a cartoon? Keep up the great work!
Don’t worry about drawing Luddie. It is his personality (catonality?) that makes him real and so identifiable to so many of us cat owners.
Good morning, Villagers!
JJ, and Steve, too, I agree. I like Luddie and I am not a cat person *at all*, Garfield, Peekaboo, etc. make me ill. But they are just annoying, Luddie actually has an affectionate relationship with his housemates.
I remember Frieda’s cat which appeared to have no bone structure.. And then “Stupid cat who lives next door” *SLASH*
Solange is perhaps the least successful of Brooke McEldowney’s creations. The drawings are ok, but otherwise she just wastes panel space in an otherwise top notch comic. De gustibus . . ..
Frieda’s cat was named “Faron” – Schulz said it was after Faron Young, “the old country singer”. Faron was also “boneless.”
EMB: I agree that Solange is not one of my favorite parts of “9 Chickweed Lane”. I think Brooke doesn’t like Sunday strips very well and uses it to take up panel space. I note that the sily kitten is getting more space than Solange these days.
Heh, I now have now got two online friends initialed “emb”: You and Evi Midnight Bomber on SB 😀
Not pertinent to the discussion, but just a neat photo I thought I would share: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/10778983/Pictures-of-the-day-22-April-2014.html?frame=2888663
VERY very cool picture- thanks, Mark!
No, you’re not in good company.
Schulz is.
(Not joking. Not sucking up.)
Faron appeared in-panel for quite a few strips, I don’t remember the context but I remember Schulz saying he just couldn’t draw a cat, so Faron just disappeared. When “the cat next door” showed up as a character later, only his paw appeared.
I don’t mind the occasional 9CL strip featuring the feline; some, especially earlier ones, were interestingly done. What bugs me is the current 9CL storyline wherein I cannot tell which character from the past is supposed to be which current (or recently current) person – or even if that supposition is so.
Here’s to a new story – SOON.
Ludwig & Garfield amuse me a lot; Heathcliff, only somewhat.
I believe the past 40 – 50 strips of 9CL weekday strips are all of the past and whether they’re in B&W or color keys you in to whether the guy is hallucinating scenes from the movie “It Happened One Night”.
I loathe Heathcliffe and Garfield. De gustibus non disputandem est!
Good morning Villagers…..
Sunrises…..on the Gulf Coast, Corpus Christi….I was an assistant night audit supervisor for a major hotel chain located right on Ocean Blvd. Saw many sunrises. The best ones were, of course, sitting on Padre Island, right at the water’s edge watching the sun rise….miss that. But here, I’ve seen spectacular sunsets peeking through the woods, with the sky on fire.
Last week Peanuts featured the Cheshire Beagle….all you would see were Snoopy’s teeth.
Gotta go….ya’ll have a blessed day
GR 😉
I loved the snapper in today’s (Wednesday’s) A&J. I’m a northerner and need to be reminded that down south, playing in the water isn’t always innocent fun!
All sunrises are good, Debbe. Ocean sunrises, mountain sunrises, forest sunrises, and even urban sunrises. The morst marvelous sunset I ever saw was over San Francisco Bay. They all mean you are alive and able to see and appreciate beauty.
Lilyblack…yes, all sunrises are good, it means you’re still 6 feet above ground 🙂
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