BECOMING A CARTOONIST
“go digital, use rough drafts, be stubborn. drawing talent is overrated.”
The Lesson
If starting today, use only digital tools. Forget pen and paper. Get a Wacom Cintiq (a screen you draw directly on) and learn Photoshop. Everything is easier digitally: erasing, moving, resizing, flipping. The rough draft is key. You don't draw something perfect the first time. Use layers in Photoshop: draw lots of bad lines on one layer, then trace the good ones on another. It's like carving. Drawing talent is less important than you think. I don't have much drawing talent, but through hard work and stubbornness, I figured out how to draw comics that look the same every time, almost. The process: rough draft, refine, repeat. Persistence beats talent.
Real-World Example
A founder wants to add simple illustrations to their blog. Instead of hiring an illustrator, they buy an entry level Wacom tablet and learn basic Photoshop. Their first drawings are terrible, but they use the layer technique: rough sketch first, then trace the good parts. After six months of consistent practice, they can create simple, consistent illustrations. They didn't become a great artist, but they became good enough because they were stubborn and used the right tools.
Watch Scott explain this lesson
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