Pixels and Paintbrushes

by Gustavo (Garrincha) Rodriguez
Havana, Cuba

Toons on the net. How familiar, and yet, a bit unknown. Drawing cartoons is a legitimate communication act, and usually a very solitary one. From the time one gets an idea about a subject until the final art, anything goes. For years, this process of inking our brains out was called “creation.”

Tons of pencils, pens and paintbrushes have been used, bitten, broken, and consumed under a lamp at the drawing board. Zillions of sheets of paper and bottles of ink later, cartoonists have found themselves in the uncomfortable Procrustean bed of new rules that the Internet has made for illustrators, designers, and animators.

Some years ago, a large group of Cuban cartoonists met in Havana to chat and share experiences with a curious delegation of artists and editors from the States. I remember Paul Fell, Mike Ramirez, Chip Beck, Joel Pett, and Ted Rall, among others, having a great time with their Cuban peers. Portfolios were shown, beers were served, and everything seemed to go smoothly.

But then Jerry Robinson of Cartoonists and Writers Syndicate asked us to listen to him for a minute. He explained how syndication worked, and how Cuban cartoonists could contribute. And for many Cuban cartoonists there, the words “Internet” and “cartoons” were linked for the first time.

Some eyes started to blink, and certainly not because of the beers.

Most of the Cuban artists had nearly zero experience in computers, had never heard of sending e-mails, and could not imagine that they would get in front of a computer to surf the net. So reactions were mixed.

Cartoons on Internet. New markets. Bye-bye paper publications, welcome those rich syndicates.

A couple of people spent some time explaining the other cartoonists, preventing unreal expectations, but mostly to no avail. It was so appealing, and so new. It gave the impression of new possibilities opening up in front of us.

How do we get back to the real world?

First it must be said that in the graphic arts community, computer techniques have come to create and stir endless (and sometimes silly) debates about the validity of using design and illustration softwares in the creative act described in the beginning of this text.
A few artists love to push their opinions defending the art generated or processed by computer as the latest and only way of expressing their ideas. These geeks tend to give pitying looks to their colleagues that decided to stick to traditional ways of cartooning. And obviously, that bothers a lot of people and leads to the other end of the debate, where some artists feel that those computer zealots are hiding behind a mouse to disguise their shortcomings and lack of talent in the drawing or painting department.

I think it is very easy to gather them all and tell them simply: Guys, a mouse and a computer program will never replace a pen. And there are visual effects achieved in digital art that are deliciously beyond any paintbrush.

But then again, I don’t think it will work.

Hello… Internet?

Cuban cartoonists lined up right in the middle of the discussion. They were enthusiastic, but knew nothing about the medium.

And they have learned a few things.

First: Yes, you can publish cartoons on the net or put them up for sale. And yes there are publications available only on line.

Second: You might not need a bulky portfolio to show around, since you could perfectly well give an URL to anyone anywhere so they can see your latest works.

Third: The Internet allows various types of cartooning, including animation, advertising, and design.

Fourth: You can reach a handful of editors this way, without having to buy meals or wear funny clothes.

Fifth: Software offers a lot of ways to cut corners in digitally cooked images. Time is saved. Ink blots are out. Distortions are easier.

So the world suddenly looked like a wonderful place to live, and the profession was saved by some clean, remote, and fancy technology that, it seemed, would in due time arrive in Cuba and take care of the cartoonists needs. These needs, by the way, with a few exceptions, are very simple all around the world. We cartoonists want to see our drawings published and get paid for it.

Cool.

But for the vast majority of Cuban cartoonists, a new disappointment would come along. Many prolific artists with good will and desire cannot get past the “hardware turnstile.” They barely heard of such things as scanners, modems and the 72 dpi. Photoshop sounded like a photographer’s store, jpg format was a serious disease, and Flash was something you use in your camera to shoot in the dark.

The worst part is that most of these cartoonists will never get any access to that technology. It’s as simple as that.

Some others, could benefit from a computer, but have no Internet connection, which is scarce in Cuba.

Or they just don’t care about learning, mostly because of a couple of sometimes unavoidable disappointments in the process. These disappointments sometimes have to do with working conditions or bad editing.

Which brings us to the somewhat bizarre landscape of Internet publications in the island. Many journals and magazines had to hit the net to avoid extinction. Ink and paper shortages are critical in Cuba. More than half of the publications have been cut, have disappeared or have changed drastically in the last ten years.

The Internet looked like a savior. Journalists and editors had to take a crash course in the medium. Layout designers had to absorb the new stuff in a short time. Work conditions are not always good and the equipment isn’t always the best.

But the Internet was already here. Right?

What have we got, then? Journalists turned into webmasters, designers acting as editors and vice versa.

Wide profiles can’t be that bad. Well… Wrong!

The one or two Cuban cartoonists that regularly work for web publications are periodically caught in the middle of this invasion of responsibilities.

So I feel it’s time to talk about the fact that…

Internet rules, but has its rules.

OK, the net is no white elephant. But it is healthy to know how to publish and what to publish. There are three basic ways to use a cartoon in an on line publication.

The first one, a cartoon drawn for a printed paper, is scanned, digitally adapted to meet the net standards, and inserted in any web page.

But space and size are concepts that can vary a little when working for the web. The size and format of a cartoon for the paper version may not fit the area reserved for graphics in certain web pages, and it is painfully familiar to see distorted toons, with blurry balloon texts or missing details, that were perfectly enjoyed in the paper version.

I have found that if you can not trust a sloppy or poorly trained designer (and there are lots of them), you’d better do your homework in Photoshop. Learn about the space in the web publication, and see if you can modify your cartoon to adjust to the new place. And if you can’t do it yourself, draw a new cartoon.

The second and regularly used way to put your cartoons on a web page is to color a black and white cartoon with the web palette. Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are two of the most popular programs. But there are lots of other software programs.

You can not only visually upgrade the old cartoon, but also use effects and different colors to lift and display details that were easily perceived in the previous size and technique but could be lost in the new web size. You can even improve certain conceptual ideas in any cartoon by using certain colors and distortions. The gain can be a dramatic change, if you master your skills and know what to get.

And, of course, there is the third and omnipresent way of cartooning for the web, the drawing that you make only for the Internet--the energetic, clean, ageless, and sometimes cubist kind of toons that started appearing in computer magazines years ago. 2D is cool. Pastel colors? Bring them on! No Jeff McNelly or Loisel, thanks. God bless Bob Staake till kingdom come. This style benefited from the computer aided designs and was encouraged by a generation of editors and artists that seemed to work from a skateboard and aim at people that lived on one.

How many Cuban cartoonists have understood this? Not many. Almost none.

How many Cuban editors understand this? Zip.

In any of the three cases, you must follow certain rules of common sense that still apply to any other form of cartooning.

What am I going to draw? A gag cartoon? An illustration for an article? An animated banner? A button link? What is that page like? What else appears on it? Other graphics? Texts? Which colors? What kind of people access the page? From how many countries? Is language a factor? What is the slant of the publication?

Usually, that information is provided by an editor, but don’t count on it here in Cuba, since editors can be very busy designing, editing, or simply learning the trade.

And after that, you must bear in mind that your wacky and brilliant piece of art must meet the color, resolution, and size standards for the web. If your digitally processed image takes a few extra seconds to download, it is very likely that some impatient web surfer will click away from your work and never see it.

Duh…

So, apart from the technical details, what does the Internet bring along? A better market? I don’t think so.

In terms of selling their work for the net, Cuban cartoonists face the same old battles as in the paper publications. Editors are ignorant of the genre in most cases, and rates are ridiculously low. Editors that pay for cartoons (some expect you to work for the gratifying experience of having your cartoon used) stick to the rates stated in 1980 in an act that established the royalties for different graphic manifestations in publications of those years. As if “inflation” is not a word that rings any bell for them.

And it takes time to cash your check, as in many places. It is not the editor who pays you. You must get caught in a silly maze of bureaucrats that handle you without knowing what they are paying for. They don’t care that you delivered your wonderful cartoons right on time, in the nick of time. It is not their business. The web page you worked for can be the pride of macromedia, but their accounting mechanism can still be stuck in the Jurassic.

And you have to go through all the silly paperwork. You will never be paid properly or on time. So, from this point of view, the Internet has brought nothing new to this side of the street. You get the same treatment from the web editors as from the editors who murder trees.
Ok. Any freedom of expression, then? I have heard so many things about the net…! Freedom of expression. Compared to what? What makes you think that those editors have changed their style of work.

Sorry, pal. In Cuba, most of the Internet publications are a htlm-supported version of those printed in paper format. Don’t expect any change in that department. It is still censorship at will.

Any other bad news?

Hell, yes. Not only do the editors show a profound ignorance for the art of cartooning, but you also have to deal with the old problem of layout that won't give a hoot for your work, that won’t care if your work suffers from an absurd size or space reserved for your wonderful cartoon. They don’t feel your drawing is expected to say anything. Your art is a filler they needed in the page. Journalists often ask for illustrations of texts they have written, with the same stupid “cartoon as a filler” concept in mind.

How do you get decent treatment and a good size for your cartoons?

You don’t. You are asked for work. You inquire about the space and format. You are sometimes vaguely told. You insist, and that irritates them. You keep bugging editors. You are told that your toon must have 200 pixels on the larger side. You argue. You try to explain to anyone who will listen that that size is absolutely too small for what you will draw or what you need to show. They don’t care, but after a while, you are told that, OK, your drawing will be given 280 or 300 pixels at most on the larger side. Then you kiss the editor’s ring while tears blind your eyes.

A new battle has been won. Life is beautiful.

Cartoons are not photographs. This is usually understood by the cartoonist. But does the webmaster care? Not always.

Knock, knock, knocking on backup’s door.

How do I protect my works on the Internet? Lawyers have to catch up with the Internet and learn on the run, while sketching their strategies.

Original art, as we know it, is not always the issue. Your original art can perfectly well be a digital image, copied as many times as anybody wishes, stored on a disk, or shown in a screen. And that can lead to tricky situations in a copyright trial. If you draw a cartoon on paper, and sell it, it is usually clear where to look for the original. According to that concept, how do you manage to deal with an electronically stored image? What are you getting paid for? The very publication of your drawing, or the time it appears on the web site?

If a cartoon section in a web site is reportedly attracting lots of people to the page, should the cartoonist bargain for a different fee? Theoretically, yes. But don’t expect editors to understand this.

I will not go into details about the huge change in concept and support that the Internet has brought to the copyright field. The issue is complicated and intense. But some Cuban institutions have shown signs of taking it very seriously. For instance, the ADAVIS agency, that belongs to the Ministry of Culture, has adapted to the new times and Cuban artists that are registered in the agency have legal support from it. So..?

The Internet has not come to solve all our problems, but it has solved a few. Some Cuban cartoonists need to get in touch with the technology more often, and need to be more aggressive in learning the skills. A one-horse-town mentality does not help. We all need Internet connections and computers, no doubt. But we will never find our place if we don’t know what to expect and what to get from the Internet.

We shouldn’t be embarrassed for not knowing how to break in, but it is idiotic to be proud because we don’t use and feel we don’t need a computer.