Steve Barr is a professional cartoonist who has created a syndicated comic strip, as well as panel and gag cartoons. He has designed and illustrated board games, books and educational materials, and worked in animation, illustration and advertising. Steve has kindly agreed to tell us about some of the experiences that got him into the profession and shares some tips for aspiring cartoonists.

More of this Feature • Page 2: Career Cartooning • Page 3: Technical Tips • Page 4: Going Pro

Related Resources • Comic Convention Sketchbooks • Visual Art Careers

From Other Guides • Cartoons and Comics • Comic Book Creators • Animation Tutorials

Elsewhere on the Web • Peel Books Artschool Online • King Features • Step-By-Step Characters

Q: How did you get started in cartooning?

A: My first recollection of drawing a cartoon was when I was in fourth grade. I copied a drawing of Mickey Mouse onto my desk during one of my classes and all of the other children around me started telling me that it was really good. My teacher came over to see what all of the commotion was about, and asked me to stay after class. When my classmates had headed for home, my teacher made me clean the drawing off of my desk, and said that drawings should be done on sheets of paper, not furniture. She said my art was very good for someone my age, and suggested that I enter something in the school art contest. I did, and I won a ribbon.

From that day on, I knew I wanted to be a professional cartoonist. I spent hours upon hours in the local library, reading everything I could get my hands on that was related to cartooning and art. I bombarded famous cartoonists with fan letters, begging them to share the secrets of their profession with me. Many of them sent me wonderful letters with all kinds of helpful hints and tips. I locked myself in my room for long periods of time, practicing my sketching and experimenting with various pens, paper and ink until I felt fairly confident that I was ready to become a cartoonist.

I actually sold my first two cartoons to a magazine and a syndicated newspaper feature when I was in seventh grade! I will never forget those first two checks. One was for seven dollars and fifty cents, the other for twenty five dollars. I was elated. Someone had actually purchased my work. I had been paid for it! I was a professional. From that point on, I pursued my dream. By the time I was in high school I was having work published regularly by a variety of magazines, and even landed a job doing some black and white line illustrations for a book publisher.

Q: How did you become a professional? A: I considered myself a professional as soon as I got my first pay check for my work. My mother had a four-drawer file cabinet full of rejection slips I received from various editors over the years, but I never gave up. I kept sending out work in the mail as often as I could.

I was once given some very wise advice by a friend in the cartooning business, Gil Fox. He used to work on animation for Betty Boop and worked for years on the syndicated feature called "Side Glances". He once told me that to succeed as a cartoonist I had to "persist over and over and over."

That's what it takes to become a professional cartoonist. Try over and over again. Don't give up or get discouraged. If you created cartoons worth printing, some editor somewhere will eventually discover your talent.

Page 1 - Meet Steve
Page 2 - A Career in Cartooning
Page 3 - Technical Tips
Page 4 -Going Pro