Cartoons, A Brief Introduction

Nancy B. Alston

What is a cartoon? A cartoon is a drawing, a simple example of creative thinking and a perception of the reality and dream. By drawing cartoons, one enhances creative skills.

Cartoons represent almost all aspects of life; they could be humorous, serious or erotic. In a few lines, the cartoonist is able to capture the entire idea he wants to convey, to observe and exaggerate the characters’ features.

People have always associated cartoons with fun and childhood, because children love cartoons, they love drawings and like seeing them move on the screen or they enjoy adults reading them comic books. In this way children’s creativity path is opened.

Political cartoons are special cartoons that represent current political affairs with humor and originality.

Political cartoons are considered historical sources just like newspapers, paintings, diaries and documents. These kinds of cartoons communicate political messages about events and people of the time through pictures. Some cartoons do this merely to comment on political events and poke fun, other cartoons are evidence of people and government’s efforts to influence people.

The universal truth is that most cartoons are drawn to make people laugh. They make normally serious politicians look ridiculous. By exaggerating situations and characters they become funny and daring; they ‘say’ things people would not dare to say out loud. Cartoons are usually made up of two elements: caricature (a drawing that makes an individual funny by his looks) and illusion (something that cartoonists add but it is not real, but it is used to pretend a funny situation).

However, there are some cartoons that are not meant to be funny, they are deadly serious.

Nonetheless, cartoons do make an impact, and because of this they are memorable.

One can find online on Cartoon Bank carefully chosen cartoons from The New Yorker editions, prints and cover that decorate houses, offices; all original works available for purchase.

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