The blog of Richard Thompson, caricaturist, creator of "Cul de Sac," and winner of the 2011 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

This Week's Cul de Sac, August 1 Through 7, 2011

Here's a whole, solid, brand-new week of Cul de Sacs along with some unnecessary commentary. Last summer Cartoon Camp was taught by Dan Spinnerack (below)
 But this year I wanted someone new, though it might upset some, like Pete(y).
I think I redrew him a dozen times trying to find the right guy.
In his earliest, larval stage he resembled the cartoonist Seth (below) if he was played by an anemic Johnny Depp. I didn't think the public was ready for that quite yet.
Casting the right guy for a part in a comic strip is important. It can be fun, if the right guy shows up, but if he doesn't you have to keep looking till you find him. I wanted someone who looked like he could possibly be related to Dan Spinnerack. Beyond that I wasn't sure. One role that I've always been proud of casting was the bit part of the Fed-UPS driver who gave Mr.Danders a lift back in 2006 -

I keep hoping to work with him again, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself.
After redrawing him a dozen times I eventually I found his face, got him dressed and named him. Six months of touring historic cartoon sites would barely scratch the surface of the Buckeye State's offerings (Ohio license plates bear the motto "Incubator of Cartoonists").
I like the idea of a daily diary comic. Those who do it well make lively, interesting comics out of unexpected choices and juxtapositions of the quotidian. I'm not sure that makes sense; just go read everything by Dustin Harbin and you'll be the richer for it. 
Really I just wanted the kids to have something different to do at Cartoon Camp this year and this seemed like a good direction to wander off on. Andre, Pete and Loris should each respond to it in some amusing way, I hope.
Although Pete might get too tightly focused on the boring, dull and uneventful part and produce a sluggish comic. This can drag a comic strip down and scare away readers, as I'm slowly realizing.
I've never heard windshield wipers say "Wipey". Those on my first car, an '82 Sunbird, went HIRNK-HORNK, but that sounds too much like an oboe onomatopoeia and I don't want to confuse people.

The next week of Cul de Sac is all repeats I'm sorry to say.

8 comments:

Roto13 said...

I like diary comics. One of my favourites is American Elf. http://www.americanelf.com/

richardcthompson said...

Yes!

Anonymous said...

"unnecessary commentary"? I love reading the commentary on these posts and seeing the original black and white drawings!

OldestandWisest said...

You know that an oboe is an ill wind that nobody blows good!

Muzition said...

There's a comic artist called Julia Wertz who draws comics about her life. They're not quite daily, though.

Warning: if you look up her stuff, it's very NSFW.

rainycity1 said...

Very best webjournal comics ever, if you're interested in the daily life of a web artist:
http://www.shazzbaa.com/
&
http://thedevilspanties.com/

The former started her webcomic as part of a SCAD assignment very similar to Petey's. It is definitely SFW.

The latter is not as scandelous as its name implies, although it definitely has its moments. Nothing extreme, however, maybe described as mildly risque.

Now to go check out AmericanElf.... ;-)

Kid Shay said...

Okay, between the references to Ohio, diary comics, and a hilarious hippie cartoonist, this series has got to be one of the best runs so far in CdS.

Will Petey ever get to visit ComicCon? It might be the death of him.

Richard Fay said...

My dyslexic brain replaced "diary" with "dairy", and I thought, "Wow, that would be a tough gig: trying to continually think of funny things about milking cows". I was relieved to find out I was wrong.