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Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
I’ll tell you something else the Internet has changed. In the past, professional cartoonists could rely upon a steady stream of novices dropping in to learn the tricks of the trade. Most cartoonists graciously accommodated the newbies, although they weren’t called “newbies” in the day, because someone probably had helped them along in the same way. It was part of the fraternity dues. Today, would-be cartoonists can put their material directly on the Web for the entire world to see, and they no longer feel the need for instruction. Besides, if they do, that instruction is available instantly on the Internet. Who needs the advice of some old has-been who’s just taking up space and breathing air that could be used by someone else? I’ve drifted off into a rant, when what I really set out to do was give you a quick cartooning tip. See the last panel? See the water cooler? Sure, it adds interest and takes up space, but the real reason it’s there is to break up the vertical edge of the restroom door. You never want a line, either horizontal or vertical, to extend, unbroken, across an entire panel. It plays havoc with the composition, and it simply looks bad. Breaking it up just the least bit solves the problem. There, you read it on the Internet.