• Cartoonists develop their own rules and break them for effect.Cartoon Eye image by hellotim from Fotolia.com
  
  Cartooning is a graphic form of writing. Your drawing style doesn't need to be sophisticated, as the success of the comic strip "Dilbert" and the TV show "South Park" demonstrates. The cartoonists behind those crudely penned blockbusters developed drawing styles that transport the reader into a different world. Whether you're interested in sequential panel cartoons, single-panel gags or animation, building a visual landscape for your sense of humor is the key to superior cartooning.
  
  

Start With Realism

• Even if your drawing style involves people with triangle heads and star-pattern hands, your art will be funnier if you have at least some background in realistic drawing. The humor will come from the reader's ability to recognize the "truth" in tiny details, like facial expressions or body language. You may or may not develop proficiency as a realistic artist, but by practicing realism you'll inevitably find certain details--an suspiciously cocked eyebrow, a sheepish grin, a dumbfounded stare--that you can render truthfully and weave into the fabric of your non-realistic cartoon world.
  
  

Think in Shapes

• Whether your style is as elaborate as Jack Kirby's elaborate Spiderman epics or as simple as Scott Adams' cubicles where Dilbert languishes, you can enhance its visual impact--and speed up the drawing process--by using basic shapes as the foundation of your artwork. Circles, squares, cylinders, triangles and rectangles are building blocks you decorate with details inspired by your imagination.
  
  

Be Consistent

• Even the most non-realistic or simplistic cartoon should have its own internal reality. While it's generally considered bad form to draw two-dimensional characters against a three-dimensional backdrop, you can make it work if you always draw that way, as the animators of "South Park" do. As you develop a sense of what you do and don't do well, create "rules" for your artwork that highlight your strengths. These guidelines will allow you to either avoid your weak spots or make a joke out of them.
  
  

Break Rules Thoughtfully

• Of course, cartoonists aren't bound by the conventional rules of realism--and shouldn't be slaves to their own rules either. However, if you're going to break your own cartooning guidelines, do it sparingly, for maximum effect. Otherwise the rule-breaking won't stand out and will make your artwork too confusing to be amusing.
  
  

Cartooning Is Writing

• Whatever type of drawing style you develop, it should support your ideas. Consider how the unsophisticated drawings in "Dilbert" support Adams's vision of corporate America as a world of simple-minded dimwits. This crude style also creates a humorous contrast with Adams' sly, deadpan wit. As you build your visual world, think about how each detail illuminates your vision of the world.