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On Cartoons

Cartoons are considered
In for fair wisdom -
Handy methods help productivity or productions. Good enjoyments may be fostered through it.

Hallmarks

Supporting "well medleys" are presupposed throughout:

Hallmarks of comic strips

Comic strips bring joy to lots of people on this planet. The comic strip is one outlet, one mode, of cartoon art. Like art in general, cartoon art has foundations.

Distinguishing characteristics

One foundation of cartoon art is some cartoon

CARTOON stips may look primitive, but may not be so anyway. Much depends on the seeing eye in this as elsewhere. Human activity and much else in the world may be represented in cartoon art, be it good or bad, beautiful or ugly, beneficial or destructive.
   The slogan "Cartoon art is expression"; but it is more often used to designate the product of that process, the completed artwork or artifact itself, as in the remark ""Han Ola and han Per cartoons" is probably a source of medium enjoyment only. What can the reasons be?"
   The task of the philosopher of cartoon art is to provide conceptual foundations for such as (1) examining the basic concepts underlying the cartoon arts and the works of cartoon art critics and readers, and by (2) arriving at true conclusions about cartoon art, aesthetic value, expression, and the other concepts that makes that sort of enjoyment meaningful somehow.
   In speaking and writing about cartoon art, the cartoon art critic presupposes that he is dealing with clear concepts, the attainment of which is the task of the philosopher of cartoon art. Thus, the task of the philosopher of cartoon art is more fundamental than that of the cartoon art critic in that the critic's pronouncements presuppose answers to the questions set by the philosopher of cartoon art.
   Many cartoon artists were no doubt concerned to satisfy their aesthetic capabilities in creating their work, some have been highly perfectionistic as artists. A work of cartoon art was originally a man-made thing. Computers and computer animations have changed that today.
   The estimation of cartoon art may be primarily evaluative, as when reasons are given for saying that the work of cartoon art in question is good or bad, or better or worse than another one.
   The success of cartoon art is in step with this topic: Is there any increased understanding or enhanced appreciation of the work? Yet, how the comic strips were intended by their creators, and how they function according to experience may be different and vary. Today's appreciation of a cartoon strip is no guarantee that tomorrow will judge it similarly.
   Cartoon art philosophy brings relevant outlooks outside the mere local enjoyments of daily comic strips. It needs to be distinguished from cartoon art criticism, which may be more or less peripheral and temporal as well. As a beginning, a useful, but blurred distinction may be made between fine and useful cartoon art.¤
   Cartoon art is not limited to visual cartoon art; music and drama and poetry may intermingle, as in films that have been made on top of cartoons peanuts films furnish examples. One may also see paintings on top of cartoon figures and scenes, sculptures, and a variety of objects for sale. Not a few objets trouvés ("found objects") could be worked into cartoons as well - that is possible.

Comic strips show thoughts

THE CARTOON critic says perhaps that a given work is expressive, Neanderthal and so on; but the philosopher of cartoon art asks more in a pensive mood:

What is meant by saying that a work of cartoon art is expressive and how does one determine if it is?
What distinguishes fine cartoon art from useful cartoon art, if clear enough hallmarks are found yet?
What it is about comic strips that evokes mirth in us?
What does the philosopher of cartoon art direct his attention on?
What is cartoon art and what distinguishes it from all other things?

Answers may differ greatly. But in every case the aim of cartoon art criticism is to attain an increased understanding or enjoyment of the work (or classes of works) of cartoon art. Speaking of enjoyment, however, if the term "cartoon art" is to be used without confusion, bad cartoon art as well as good cartoon art may exist.
Cartoon philosophers may classify cartoon art findings in several ways: ¤

Narrow, aesthetical thinking may be brought to bear on it.
Popularity with its where's, why's and how's, is one angle.
Judging the values or possible values of single strips as well as larger portions.
Differentiating between various sorts (including classes) of cartoon works - such as useful and not useful, valuable and not valuable.
Valuing certain styles or genres.
Relating strips to their time periods, epochs, with elucidations based on the cartoon art periods till now.

Being surrounded by exquisite or fine materials helps

USEFUL cartoon art may have both an aesthetic and a utilitarian dimension: We may find solid cartoon works in educational material, text books, and enjoy many of them as objects of beauty. Some of these works have been imported, planted in conjunction with the text, others are derived from the text itself. Both ways can work fine.
Analysis and evaluation of particular works of cartoon art can be done in many different ways, and from a variety of angles.

Gist

Get very good tools for drawing first, and next make something with them. One foundation of cartoon art is some cartoon -
Illustrate thoughts that are important to yourself at least. Comic strips show thoughts -
Surround yourself with exquisite or fine materials to look up in and get inspired from. Cartoonists do.

If you sit down at your carefully designed, comfortable table and take your preferred tools in hand, you should have some ideas or facts to toy with if you have no sensible inspiration - which may come later, as a result of setting your deep mind at work through interest or work for some time. Good routines and fine, inspiring how-to-do-it books and examples can further much.

As it is, some artists attend colleges, others don't. It depends.
After you have trained yourself and accomplished things, recognition may be wanting all the same. There is no guarantee that your evolved individuality, as shown in your works of art, will be well received - that much stands out from lives of many artists. It may help to have influential patrons, though.

Show of real strength or a result of being suppressed?

Artists have to fight for the freedom to see for themselves and think for themselves. Otherwise they succumb to garrulousness, is one bet.

HAVING been subordinated and suppressed for eighteen years, Catherine the Great revelled in doing what she pleased. "O Freedom," she wrote, "the soul of all things; without you there is no life."
But when the miners and other serfs of the land rebelled, she decided that freedom was too precious to be scattered around, and wrote:
"The Russian Empire is so vast that any other form of government than that of an autocratic emperor would be detrimental, for every other form fulfills itself more slowly and embodies passions which dissipate its strength."

Adjoined

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CLICK on 'Literature' for the references of about 2000 works.
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© 2001-2004, T. Kinnes — Updated in Autumn 2004