My own stuff usually sprawls between Larson and Thurber, with the occasional Kliban influence.
I’d also have to cite Schultz, to be fair, along with the Nine Old Men at Disney Animation, particularly during THE JUNGLE BOOK epoch, which was one of the rougher animations. I had an over-sized comic book of that movie and spent hours copying the characters and poses.
Yet another influence would be Jack “King” Kirby from Marvel Comics, with his square-jawed sketchy style, particularly in his art for The Fantastic Four. Then, to a slighter degree, James Steranko of Marvel.
For a brief time I tried for more realistic cartoons, such as The Phantom, Steve Canyon, and Batman most of all. That failed at the time. I lacked anatomy and had never had a life-drawing class.
When I was 8 or 10, thereabouts, my maternal grandmother gave me a half-sized paperback book, How To Draw Cartoons. It explained various techniques, from pencil sketches through inking, washes and paint, to caricature. Explained projectors and light boxes. It was helpful, although it didn’t imprint any particular style on me.
I was always able to draw recognizable things and to capture expression, which thrilled Gonga, my grandmother, who herself was an oil painter. She taught me 85 hours of painting instruction one week in exchange for me literally painting their living room ceiling. Best trade I ever made.
My style or styles arose from me as a toddler making recognizable things out of squiggles my mother did for me on scrap paper to keep me busy in waiting rooms, and at home as a game. Taught me emergent image, and how to handle squiggles, or mistakes, or simply to make a shape, then find what’s in it or develop it as part of something.
Dr Seuss’s Theodore Geisel described his style as Controlled Accidents. I think he was using squiggle approach, then refining. At times, he drew social commentary and sardonic looks askance at history’s idiocies.
My favorites along with Gary Larson and Kliban are Berkley Breathed’s BLOOM COUNTY, Watterson’s CALVIN & HOBBES, Mr. Fish, PEANUTS by Charles Schultz, Mark Tatuli’s LIO, and many others. It’s art, it’s joy, it’s play, it’s important: It’s cartooning.
Anyway, so much for my cartoon influence and history.
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