Cartooning is a form of amplification through simplification.
When we abstract an image through cartooning, we are not so much eliminating details as we are focusing on specific details.
By stripping down an image to its essential “Meaning” an artist can amplify that meaning in a way that realistic art can’t.
Film critics will sometimes describe a live-action film as a cartoon to acknowledge the stripped-down intensity of a simple story or visual style.
Though the term is often used disparagingly, it can be equally well applied to many time-tested classics. Simplifying characters and images toward a purpose can be an effective tool for storytelling in any medium.
Cartooning isn’t a way of drawing. It’s a way of seeing.
The ability of cartoon to focus our attention on an idea is, I think, an important part of their special power, both in comics and in drawing generally.
- Universality of cartoon imagery
- Emoji can also work on this principle.
- Checkhov’s gun