HOW TO MAKE AN EFFECTIVE EDITORIAL CARTOON?

Introduction 📜

A newspaper editorial cartoon is a graphic representation of the creator’s ideas and opinions. It is usually in a single-panel format and do not feature continuous characters like cartoons we used to watch in television. Editorial cartoons are also called political cartoons because they often deal with or include commentary on political issues. 📰

Editorial cartoon contains features which include categories, stereotype, symbol, analogy, and humor. Categories pertain to images of public figures with exaggerated physical features. Stereotype is a formal image used to represent opinions of a particular group. A symbol is an image that traditionally represents something else. Analogy pertains to the comparison that shows similarity of one thing to another. Humor is the power to provoke laughter or to express something ridiculous, funny, or absurd.

Evaluating Editorial Cartoon ✍

Good editorial cartoon combines sharp visuals with good writing. Not all editorial cartoons are meant to be funny, and the most effective editorial cartoon is not funny at all. To understand the real message of the cartoon, you have to seriously read the image together because the purpose of editorial cartoon is to sway your opinion. 

In creating editorial cartoon, you should follow some important techniques to make the drawing more effective. These techniques include symbolism, exaggerated, labeling, analogy, and irony. Symbolism pertains to objects in drawing that stands for an important concept. Exaggerating means making abnormalities on physical features of an object in drawing to create a point or standing. Appropriate labeling of object helps to make clear and exact point of the drawing. Analogy pertains to comparison of objects to help readers view the different sides of a point. Irony makes difference between two points to express opinions on a particle issue. 

Creating editorial cartoon is not just a drawing of what the creator’s have in mind. There are things or rules a cartoonist must follow to create an effective cartoon, and to avoid political misunderstanding. First, a cartoonist should be a wide and good reader. Reading different editorial articles can help a cartoonist to gather relative information about a particular issue to effectively analyze the point of the issue. 📖📚✔

 

Some Important Rules 💡

Aside from being a wide reader, a cartoonist must have a good drawing skill to illustrate the image of a particular issue. Below are some important drawing skills that a cartoonist must learn. 🖉

• When it comes to drawing an editorial cartoon, avoid drawing details over the concept. All details should be drawn inside the object of a drawing. 🚀-☢🗙

• Do not put too many characters in the drawing to avoid confusion of the readers. An editorial cartoon must contain at least two characters in the drawing, and must focus on the main topic of the issue. 👫👪👬🗙

• Do not draw symbols politically incorrect. Drawing inappropriate symbols is the most common mistake of some cartoonists; this can lead to political misunderstanding. Instead of presenting an opinion on the issue, it appears that the cartoonist is intending to change the point of the issue. 👉👌🗙

• Do not use irrelevant symbols in the drawing. Instead, use appropriate symbols or universal symbols that will represent the elements of the drawing. Relevant symbols can help the readers to recognize the pictures pertaining to the issue. 💀✔

• Do not put blank emotions on the characters. Remember that one of the features of an editorial cartoon is being exaggerated. Blank emotions doesn’t make sense to the readers. Character emotions help to convey the expressions of the characters in the drawing. 🦲❔🗙

• Avoid putting labels over the characters because it can misinterpret the point in the drawing. In the first generation of editorial cartoon, labeling is used to make sense of the drawing, but as time goes by, labeling has been rarely used by most cartoonist especially in the present time. In order to catch the attention of the readers, the drawing must be recognizable. So if you think that the characters can be recognized by the readers, do not put anymore labels in the drawing. Labels are just used to help readers recognize the characters that are not recognizable to them. 👴*$#!🗙

• Another is that do not label universal symbols in the drawing. This is the other rule connected to the previous one. When we say universal symbols, they are already widely known symbols which mean that you don’t have to put label on it to be recognized by the readers. Putting labels on universal symbols sometimes can have double meaning to the existing symbols. 🕊☮🗙

• Do not make characters look too much exaggerated or “kenkoy” in Tagalog just to make them humorous. Exaggerated drawing can call the attention of the readers, but sometimes too much exaggeration makes no sense because instead of showing a point on the issue, it appears to be a comedy version drawing. We said that an effective editorial cartoon is not totally funny and it’s all about presenting opinions of an issue. So, it’s better to make simple exaggeration as long as the point of issue makes sense or exists in the editorial cartoon. 🤣🗙

• In terms of drawing details, it’s better to apply articulation in the characters. Articulation makes the drawing looks more clear or specific such that it is the jointed version of stick figures. For instance, you draw a specific action of a hand, you need to be more specific of the shape and form of the hand to make the action more realistic.

• Maintain the source of light in the drawing. Do not put shadows in different angles. Shadows of objects should be aligned from the source of light. Also, proper shading of object is a must because shading gives a darker color to the drawing and creates depth to make the drawing look three dimensional. 🍎⧭✔

• Even we said that editorial cartoons are not continuous cartoon characters, still they contain actions or movement. Like in comic books, characters are conveying movement for each part of a story or series. To make the characters look moving or alive, we apply the basic drawing element called “movement lines.” Movement lines are lines in various types that convey actions. There are different types of movement line that is used for a specific action of a character or object, and each line has its own purpose in a drawing. 👈💨✔

• To make editorial cartoon characters more realistic aside from they contain actions, they may contain character conversations. Character conversations make the editorial cartoon more alive by making the characters talk in the drawing. To make the characters appear talking, we use the comic element called “speech bubble” or “speech balloon.” Speech balloon is a rounded outline, containing words, representing speech in a cartoon. Speech balloon is commonly used especially if there are two characters having a conversation in the drawing. 💬✔

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These are some general and important rules in creating an effective editorial cartoon. Remember that an editorial cartoon is not just a drawing, but rather it is a representational drawing of the creator’s political opinion. Editorial cartoons may appear funny but social comments, most of which are sharp minded. 🖉