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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