Cartooning: Cartoons Magazine January 1916

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 8 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great info on the history of animation told through the careers of great cartoonists.


Yesterday, Archive supporter Marc Schirmeister stopped by with a treasure trove of information on the early days of cartooning. A big stack of Cartoons magazines from the WWI era through the late 1920s. These magazines are amazing... they include articles about Pat Sullivan, George Herriman and Winsor McCay, editorial cartoons from around the globe, and incredible advertisements for correspondence courses in cartooning. Here is a sampling of editorial cartoons, divided by subject matter from the January 1916 issue, along with an article from the Portland Oregonian titled...

THE MODERN CARTOON
When it is declared that there are nowadays no great cartoonists or illustrators, it ought to be recalled that the conditions controlling the art of newspaper caricature and pictorial lampooning are not what they were fifty, or twenty, or even ten years ago. Let us go back no farther than Thomas Nast, who was the most famous, and usually regarded as the greatest of all American cartoonists. Mr Nast's first and only notable work was with Harper's Weekly. During the Civil War, a tremendous episode in our history, he began his work. No one who has examined the usual political and personal caricatures of that day can fail to recognize their wretched and brutal character- miserable as art productions and savage in spirit and expression. Mr. Nast did much to make the profession of caricaturist respectable. His talents as an artist were considerable, but his insight into affairs, his understanding of the motives of men, and his ability to give them pictoral form are the real secrets of his power.


There was no rival for Thomas Nast. He was alone in a field practically untilled. He rarely drew more than a single cartoon a week, and it is easy to see that he had ample time for the study of events and for the full play of his genius. To a great extent the weekly drawing of Nast was inspirational, for undoubtedly he was a man of temperament as well as a student of current history. He was not called upon for a daily offering, and was therefore not oppressed by the exacting and remorseless grind of daily journalism.

PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES OF 1916






When Thomas Nast left Harper's Weekly, after years of remarkable service to his employment and to the cause of truth and decency in public affairs, he made no impression through his contributions to the newspapers. His vogue was gone. He died a heartbroken man. It is an open question whether he might not have sustained his great reputation if he had remained with Harper's. In his latter days other caricaturists had come to the fore and Nast and Harper's no longer enjoyed a monopoly in that line.

RESTLESSNESS IN INDIA






Who looks nowadays to an American weekly for cartoons? Yet it is true that in Great Britain the cartoon remains the particular posession of the weekly, and it is the same in Germany. There is a wide difference however, in the German and British methods, for the Briton seeks to make of his cartoon an elaborate work of art, and the German confines himself to simple lines and memory impressions. The Englishman often uses models and excels as a draughtsman. The German burlesques his subject, and strives for humorous and grotesque effects. There is no real American school, as there is a British school and a German school. But there are thousands of American cartoonists giving the public their daily output, and making their appeal on every possible subject of human interest.

CARTOONS FROM JAPANESE PUNCH





There is now no Thomas Nast of American journalism. Under our conditions, it is doubtful there could be. But there are a great many fine artists drawing good cartoons and excellent cartoonists making pictures that could by no stretch of the imagination be called sound art. On the whole, the average is very high, and certainly an irrepairable loss would be suffered by journalism if the services of the cartoonist were to be dropped. The cartoon has come to be an effort to editorialize in a picture the current daily feature of the news or of public thought.

PORK BARREL POLITICS





The old cartoon- the Nast picture- was a complex affair, always with a central theme, but with many figures and contributing or incidental suggestions. Now it is different. The modern cartoon is a simple thing, with one idea. It requires no study to understand its meaning or to comprehend its scope. It can be absorbed at a glance. It may not be art, but it is something even better...

It is the symbol of truth.

ADVERTISEMENTS






If you would like to see more from the pages of Cartoons magazine, let me know in the comments. Whenever I put up this many pages at one time, I wonder whether anyone is actually reading this stuff! Let me know if I should scale back my postings to more bite sized bits.

If you found this post to be interesting, see the... W. L. Evans Cartooning and Caricature Course Brochure, Lesson One and Lesson Two, Preston Blair and John K's $100K Animation Drawing Course, Gene Byrnes' Complete Guide To Cartooning Part One: The Men Behind The Newspaper Comics, Part Two: How To Get Ideas / Studies of Comic Strips, Part Three: Single Panel and Sports Cartoonists, Part Four: Editorial Cartoons & Comic Books, Part Five: Sketching, Part Six: Magazine Cartooning and Part Seven: Magazine Cartooning (continued); Nat Falk's "How To Make Animated Cartoons" Part One: The History of Animation, Part Two: The Cartoon Studios, Part Three: How Cartoons Are Made, Part Four: How To Draw Cartoons and Part Five: How To Animate, Willard Mullin on Animals.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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Education: W L Evans Course Brochure

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 8 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great art instructional material.

We received a surprise in the mail today- a gift from archive supporter, Mark Anderson. Mark is a magazine and greeting card cartoonist who lives in the Chicago area. He ran across a treasure in his travels, and picked it up to donate to the collection of the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive. It's a promotional brochure advertising the W. L. Evans Course in Caricature and Cartooning. Shaped like a miniature artist's portfolio, and packed with great vintage cartoons and sales information, this brochure completes our collection of the W. L. Evans Course.

You might remember that we posted a couple of lessons from this series late last year. (Lesson One and Lesson Two) A complete set of lessons was donated by Marc Schirmeister. This brochure completes the set and this wonderful collection will now find a place of honor in our museum. Many thanks for thinking of us, Mark and Marc!

THE W. L. EVANS COURSE (1913)
Promotional Brochure

A cartoonist is a power. His audience is the boundless public. He is talked about. His work is admired in society. He meets the most prominent people, and becomes personally acquainted with them. He is a critic of the world's happenings.

And he receives a large salary for his work.

If you found this post to be interesting, see... The W. L. Evans School of Cartooning and Caricaturing Lesson One and Lesson Two

Also see... Preston Blair and John K's $100K Animation Drawing Course, Gene Byrnes' Complete Guide To Cartooning Part One: The Men Behind The Newspaper Comics, Part Two: How To Get Ideas / Studies of Comic Strips, Part Three: Single Panel and Sports Cartoonists, Part Four: Editorial Cartoons & Comic Books, Part Five: Sketching, Part Six: Magazine Cartooning and Part Seven: Magazine Cartooning (continued); Nat Falk's "How To Make Animated Cartoons" Part One: The History of Animation, Part Two: The Cartoon Studios, Part Three: How Cartoons Are Made, Part Four: How To Draw Cartoons and Part Five: How To Animate, Willard Mullin on Animals.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Education: W L Evans Course Part Two

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 8 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great art instructional material.

Want to learn to cartoon the way Elzie Seegar, the man who brought Popeye to life did? How about Chester Gould, the creator of Dick Tracy, or Hank Ketcham the father of Dennis the Menace? They all learned to draw cartoons with the W. L. Evans correspondence course. A while back, we posted Lesson One. Here is lesson two. If you'd like me to post more, show me you are using this material by posting your lessons on your website or blog.

THE W. L. EVANS COURSE (1916)
Lesson Two







STUDENTS: Print this stuff out and USE IT!

If you found this post to be interesting, see... The W. L. Evans School of Cartooning and Caricaturing Lesson One

Also see... Preston Blair and John K's $100K Animation Drawing Course, Gene Byrnes' Complete Guide To Cartooning Part One: The Men Behind The Newspaper Comics, Part Two: How To Get Ideas / Studies of Comic Strips, Part Three: Single Panel and Sports Cartoonists, Part Four: Editorial Cartoons & Comic Books, Part Five: Sketching, Part Six: Magazine Cartooning and Part Seven: Magazine Cartooning (continued); Nat Falk's "How To Make Animated Cartoons" Part One: The History of Animation, Part Two: The Cartoon Studios, Part Three: How Cartoons Are Made, Part Four: How To Draw Cartoons and Part Five: How To Animate, Willard Mullin on Animals.

Many thanks to Archive supporter, Marc Schirmeister for sharing this with us.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Education: W L Evans Cartooning And Caricaturing Course Part One

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 8 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great art instructional material.


I don't normally post twice in the same day, but today is special. Cartoonist, Marc Schirmeister stopped by to donate the granddaddy of all cartooning courses to the archive- a stack of 19 mail order cartooning lessons by W. L. Evans.

In 1913, Elzie Segar, aged 18 began a correspondence course headed up by the Cleveland Leader cartoonist, W. L. Evans. The course cost a dollar per lesson and it took Segar a year and a half to complete the 20 lessons. By 1917, he had landed a job penning the "Charlie Chaplin Comic Capers" and "Looping the Loop" strips. In the ad above, Segar is quoted as saying, "I'm getting along fine, and it's all your fault."

Decades later, Segar made mention of his early education in his strip, Thimble Theater. In 1934, his character, Sappo took the W. L. Evans Cartooning Course and delighted readers with cartoon drawings made from letters of the alphabet. Segar wasn't the only cartoonist who got his start with this course. Chester Gould of Dick Tracy fame was a graduate of the W. L. Evans course, as was Dennis the Menace creator, Hank Ketcham.

Here is the first lesson that got these great cartoonists started on their career path. If there is interest, I will post more of this landmark course.








THE PLATES




STUDENTS: Print this stuff out and USE IT!

If you found this post to be interesting, see... Gene Byrnes' Complete Guide To Cartooning Part One: The Men Behind The Newspaper Comics, Part Two: How To Get Ideas / Studies of Comic Strips and Part Three: Single Panel and Sports Cartoonists, Part Four: Editorial Cartoons & Comic Books, and Part Five: Sketching and Part Six: Magazine Cartooning; Nat Falk's "How To Make Animated Cartoons" Part One: The History of Animation, Part Two: The Cartoon Studios, Part Three: How Cartoons Are Made, Part Four: How To Draw Cartoons and Part Five: How To Animate. Also, see... Willard Mullen on Animals.

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