I find it amazing how many comic strips are drawn as stick figures. And what’s more amazing is that quite a number of them are really popular.
I’m looking at this throught the lense of an artist, of course. It bothers me because I spend so much time and effort on the art in “Skitter”. I take pride in it and strive to get better. I’ve heard stick figure comic strip artists reveal that they spend about 15 minutes drawing each strip. I spend at least… at least… 3 hours. Usually much more.
Am I tempted to try a stick figure comic strip? As a test… yeah. Just to see what happens. I believe Matthew Inman, who draws “The Oatmeal” , is correct when he claims the less detail you draw, the more funny the cartoon is. It’s just hard for me not to draw more detail. Sometimes I will curtail myself, however. I’ll intentionally ratchet things back.
Take this comic, for example. Originally I drew a full-on Satan in a skull-and -bones throne . Then I realized it wasn’t right for the strip and redrew him as a stick figure Satan. That worked out much better for the gag, I think.
So maybe I’m shooting myself in the foot by drawing too much detail. Meh… I can’t help myself. I’m a cartoonist. I draw cartoons.
( This comic’s Patreon “Thank You” goes to Conn B! )
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