Monday, October 24, 2011

Mike Lynch Cartoon in November 2011 READER'S DIGEST

I have a cartoon in this month's Reader's Digest.

 

It's for their "Off Base" section, which focuses on military life.



OK, above is the cartoon I sent and below is the cartoon as it's printed in the November 2011 issue.  This is my own opinion, but I think it's more successful when vertical, like my original submission above, than horizontal like below. But maybe that's just me.





The cartoon was drawn on typing paper with a Micron Pigma marker. I used a kids' watercolor paint set for the colors. I wanted to get a watercolory feel using PhotoShop, but after about ten minutes fooling around with that, I went old school style. After it was dry, I tweaked the colors a bit in PhotoShop.


5 comments:

Gerry said...

Definitely works better as a vertical layout. Nice Job!

Colin Tedford said...

I thought I'd agree more strongly, but the horizontal layout actually works better for me than I expected. The title right on top of it and the article text right below it, on the other hand, seem too close (maybe it looks less weird in the context of the whole page).

Royston Robertson said...

Vertical layout works better online, as you scroll down, or your eyes move down the screen, to get the joke. But I think the horizontal works just as well in the printed format. Great gag either way, Mike.

Linette Moore said...

Another vote for vertical. Your eyes move down while reading, adding momentum to the leaf drop. Nice wash work, too.

Mike Lynch said...

Thanks for the kind words. I'm just being picky. The RD editor knows best.

If you guys have seen Brian's work, then you know to get a "nice wash" comment from him puts you in the upper echelons of art and color - a place I do not deserve nor could maintain. It was a happy accident, like a lot of watercolor work! But I say thank you anyhoo, Brian!