In this digital age, we can get information just by sitting at a keyboard and peering into a flat panel display or swiping our fingers across a tablet.  And, as much as I love Ereaders, sometimes it’s just wonderful picking up a real book!

So, if you’re interested in learning to cartoon and draw a comic strip, I’d like to recommend “The Secrets of Professional Cartooning” by Ken Muse.

This is, by far, my absolute favorite book on cartooning instruction!  This book contains a wealth of useful information on how to layout a comic strip, the kinds of pen nibs to use and how to use them, how to construct a gag, etc.

If you’re interested in cartooning and want to learn the first steps in creating, laying out, and drawing a comic strip, this is the book to get.

First published in 1981, some of the material may appear to be a bit dated, but the basics still apply.

Unfortunately, last I looked, the book is currently out of print.  But you should be able to find one in the used area of any online bookseller or on Ebay.

Copyright 2012 by Mark Szorady. Distributed by Georgetoon.com

I just love drawing this feature!  And, again, it syncs perfectly with Back to School season.

Answer: (Click, hold down, and move your mouse to the right of the arrow to reveal the answer)===============> Sputnik 1.  Launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957.

Copyright 2012 Mark Szorady. Distributed by Georgetoon.com

It’s back to school time once again! Here’s a question from my feature “I Knew that!”  You probably learned this little factoid in school at one time or another.

Answer: (Click, hold down, and move your mouse to the right of the arrow to reveal the answer)===============> Benjamin Franklin. He was appointed postmaster general on July 26, 1775.

Another deadline is upon me.

As soon as I clear the decks of comic strips and panels, I’ll get another piece of artwork or video uploaded and on the blog.

I draw several features that get appear in newspapers.  One really fun ferature is called George’s Word Ladder.  It’s named after my main cartoon character George.  When it first appeared, I used a lot of my characters from my George comic strip to illustrate the panel.

It’s a cartoon game panel and the point is to get from one word to the last by figuring out the words in between. It’s best played when printed out on a sheet of paper rather than a computer monitor.  So, feel free to print out, play, and even share with your friends.  if you want to see more, ask your newspaper to run the cartoon package from Georgetoon.com!