Story of Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works. An artist who creates cartoons is called a cartoonist.
The term originated in the Middle Ages and first described a preparatory drawing for a piece of art, such as a painting, fresco, tapestry, or stained glass window. In the 19th century, it came to refer to humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers, and in the early 20th century and onward it referred to comic strips and animated films.
Fine Art
A cartoon (from the Italian "cartone" and Dutch word "karton", meaning strong, heavy paper or pasteboard) is a full-size drawing made on sturdy paper as a study or modello for a painting, stained glass or tapestry. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, to accurately link the component parts of the composition when painted on damp plaster over a series of days (giornate).
Such cartoons often have pinpricks along the outlines of the design; a bag of soot was then patted or "pounced" over the cartoon, held against the wall to leave black dots on the plaster ("pouncing"). Cartoons by painters, such as the Raphael Cartoons in London and examples by Leonardo da Vinci, are highly prized in their own right. Tapestry cartoons, usually coloured, were followed by eye by the weavers on the loom.
Print Media
In modern print media, a cartoon is a piece of art, usually humorous in intent. This usage dates from 1843 when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its pages,[5] particularly sketches by John Leech. The first of these parodied the preparatory cartoons for grand historical frescoes in the then-new Palace of Westminster. The original title for these drawings was Mr Punch's face is the letter Q and the new title "cartoon" was intended to be ironic, a reference to the self-aggrandizing posturing of Westminster politicians.
Modern single-panel gag cartoons, found in magazines, generally consist of a single drawing with a typeset caption positioned beneath or (much less often) a speech balloon. Newspaper syndicates have also distributed single-panel gag cartoons by Mel Calman, Bill Holman, Gary Larson, George Lichty, Fred Neher and others. Many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the father of the modern gag cartoon (as did Arno himself). The roster of magazine gag cartoonists includes Charles Addams, Charles Barsotti and Chon Day.
Bill Hoest, Jerry Marcus and Virgil Partch began as a magazine gag cartoonists and moved on to do syndicated comic strips. Noteworthy in the area of newspaper cartoon illustration is Richard Thompson, who illustrated numerous feature articles in The Washington Post before creating his Cul de Sac comic strip. Sports sections of newspapers usually featured cartoons, sometimes including syndicated features such as Chester "Chet" Brown's All in Sport.
Editorial cartoons are found almost exclusively in news publications and news websites. Although they also employ humor, they are more serious in tone, commonly using irony or satire. The art usually acts as a visual metaphor to illustrate a point of view on current social and/or political topics. Editorial cartoons often include speech balloons and, sometimes, multiple panels. Editorial cartoonists of note include Herblock, David Low, Jeff MacNelly, Mike Peters and Gerald Scarfe.
Comic strips, also known as "cartoon strips" in the United Kingdom, are found daily in newspapers worldwide, and are usually a short series of cartoon illustrations in sequence. In the United States they are not as commonly called "cartoons" themselves, but rather "comics" or "funnies". Nonetheless, the creators of comic strips—as well as comic books and graphic novels—are usually referred to as "cartoonists". Although humor is the most prevalent subject matter, adventure and drama are also represented in this medium. Noteworthy cartoonists of humor strips include Scott Adams, Steve Bell, Charles Schulz, E. C. Segar, Mort Walker and Bill Watterson.
Information Gathered from : http://en.wikipedia.org
Cartoon - India
Cartoon art has been a part of traditional folk-life in India. During the festival of Dasherra, as a part of ritual, Ravana, the evil demon king is drawn in cartoon style by Indian women. According to Indian mythology, Ravana was believed to possess intelligence of ten heads but at the same time he was very foolish. So cartoonists faithfully reflected his true self- Ravana with ten heads but with an ass drawn over them! The effigy of same Ravana is burned every year with great enthusiasm during this festival signifying victory of truth over darkness.
John Bull, was often depicted as a mediator between representatives of the British Power i.e. viceroy, governor, commander-in-chief and their Indian subjects. He too was not spared by cartoonists, in India & aboard!
It was not uncommon that during debates on India, not more than half a dozen members used to be present in the House of Commons. The Indian cartoonists depicted it faithfully- fat, hefty John Bull leisurely sleeping while Punch of India desperately trying to awaken him by blowing a bigul in his ears. Despite valiant efforts, John Bull, par excellent in diplomacy- continued to sleep!
Nevertheless, the Indian cartoons of John Bull continued to reflect the overwhelming Indian influence- wearing Indian clothes, turban, riding an elephant and of course eating Ladoos, a special sweet. Surely Laddos did cast a positive spell on John Bull, as he was sometimes shown pleading the case for India in magazines like London Punch, Fun, Judy, and Picture Politics. Cartoonist from countries like Germany, France, Holland, Italy, United States of America, Japan have illustrated in a rather juicy manner the problems & tricks of good old John Bull. As far the Indian cartoonists were concerned, John Bull was a medium through which they could express their grave concern, a dose of courage disguised as humour. Needless to say that such humour did get around the ever strict tentacles of censorship
Information from : sarcajc.com
The First Cartoon Character
Mark Bryant discovers the world’s first cartoon character, who sold large numbers of books, and all manner of merchandising.
Many people, faced with the question ‘Who was the first popular fictional cartoon character?’ might assume this to be Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, created in 1927. However, before Mickey came Bonzo the Dog and Felix the Cat, and earlier still were Ally Sloper and Max and Moritz (both from the 1860s), Brown, Jones and Robinson of Punch (1850s) and Honoré Daumier’s Ratapoil (1830s). However, it is now generally acknowledged that the first ever popular fictional cartoon character was created in 1809 – more than a century before Mickey Mouse.
A scrawny and eccentric elderly clergyman/schoolmaster, he was hugely successful, spawning many imitators and even creating the first ever market for tie-in merchandise. His name was Dr Syntax and he was the creation of a distinguished British artist who celebrates the 250th anniversary of his birth this year and who is perhaps better known for his topographical watercolours, portraits and political cartoons: Thomas Rowlandson (1757-1827).
Information from : historytoday.com
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