Get Cartooning
by Noel Ford, Pete Dredge, Dave Follows and Steve Chadburn

The text instruction is fun to read and filled with the practical know-how of this group first-rate professional cartoonists. The caliber of the accompanying sample cartoons is very high -- exactly what you would expect from four such accomplished artists. This course on a CD is presented in both text and in video format.

The text section of the course is in PDF file format, making it easy to scan through the index of subjects in the left frame to find just the page you want. Printing out a few pages for reference is a snap, and the printed pages look great.

Here are the chapter headings:

•Getting started •Posture & expression •Movement & gags •Submitting your work for publication •Strips and cards •Editorial cartoons •Caricatures •Shade & tone •Character development •Marketing yourself professionally

I admire the fact that Noel and his colleagues have made a point of including both American and British terms whenever there might be some confusion.

The video portion is simply brilliant. From an upclose view, the student can watch cartoons in progress and hear a very clear recording of each cartoonist's voice describing the process, and the thinking behind each step.

Beneath each video is a button allowing the user to view the finished cartoon while the video continues running. So, you can click back and forth between the image of the finished cartoon and the cartoon-in-progress video.

The full version course serves up over 30 minutes of video instruction.

Although this course comes from England, the instruction is entirely relevant to American cartooning. Every aspiring cartoonist would benefit from the practical guidance offered on this CD -- and should!

I give it ten stars and two thumbs up!

Ted Goff