Ten Rules For Aspiring Cartoonists

Back in March 2024 at Kawaii Kon, I did a presentation on the "eight rules for aspiring cartoonists". The panel went surprisingly well despite some initial hiccups. I have since revised the list to "Ten Rules For Aspiring Artists"

I made this list both for anyone who wants to learn how to be a Cartoon artist, as well as a reminder for myself. These rules are mainly based off of my own experience as an artist; what I had to learn the hard way, as well as things I think I did well.

Here are the Rules...

1. Don't Worry, It's Just A Cartoon

2. Draw What Makes You Happy, Not What You "Want"

3. Dream Big, Think Small

4. Work Smart, Not Hard

5. Tell A Good Story, Use Plot Only When Necessary

6. Keep It Short & Simple

7. Politics is Poison

8. Never Play to the Current Thing

9. If You Can Draw Pretty Girls, You'll Never Go Hungry

10. For God's Sake, Have A Happy Ending

Now, as you can tell, These aren't so much Drawing Rules as much as they are mentality Rules. If you want to learn how to draw, There are many good How-to-Draw books on the subject (I personally suggest Ebay though; older books tend to be better rescources). However, what I want to help you develop first is a mentality on how you should think before diving in.

In future posts, I will be going into detail on what all ten of these rules mean.