I want to be a cartoonist or an illustrator. I like drawing and making comics. I would like to do it as a career, but, I'm not sure how to get there.

Daniela's and Craig's answers were extremely informative and covered everything. I'd like to offer a school that is great for what you're looking for located in my home state. Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minnesota has a major specifically for comic art as well as illustration. Here are the links to each of these majors:

Comic Art - Bachelor of Fine Arts: http://mcad.edu/academic-programs/comic-art
Illustration - Bachelor of Fine Arts: http://mcad.edu/academic-programs/illustration

I hope that you find this helpful!

Isabelle

After reading Daniela Silva's answer to you, I feel she has covered everything well. I would add that seeing as much illustration and comic drawings in museums, book stores, newspapers, magazines, and graphic novels will heighten your sensitivity to what is being produced today. Two magazines I can recommend that deal with the pop surrealism and low brow art movements today are Juxtapoz and Hi Fructose. Illustration and Comics fit very well into these movements and you can get some insight into art that is selling very well and getting critical acclaim. The more you can see and visualize will help you get ideas and also give you written information about the artists.

Good Hunting,

Craig Billings

Hi Rita,

To becoming a successful professional cartoonist, you need to enhance your drawing and sketching skills. If you are attending school, you can choose to take some special classes on the subject. Candidates can also select an arts school and take some special courses to develop and polish their skills of drawing cartoons and sketching. Also make an attempt to get your cartoons published in your school magazines and the local newspaper, to start with.

Get yourself a nice portfolio case to showcase your work. Review all the work that you have done. Select some of your best work and create an impressive portfolio to show to the editors while applying for professional cartoonist jobs. You can also show your work to a professional first, ask them for advice and then create your portfolio.

When you are just starting your career, you should try to get your cartoons in the local newspaper of your area. Look for community events occurring in the area. These occasions are a wonderful platform to put your creative work on display and let the public view it.

When you are ready with an impressive cartoonist portfolio, it is time to submit your work to the employers you have targeted. Do some research on the employers that match up with what you are looking for. It may be possible that the employer you have targeted is currently not in a hiring mode. Don’t worry. Just get in touch with the employer and request them to have a look at your work. They may keep your cartoonist portfolio for future references.

What is a Comic Book Artist?

Those who are generically called “comic book artists” originate from disparate origins, and each often displays work of completely distinct and different styles. What every successful comic artist has in common, though, is the ability to tell a story using images and short bursts of succinct yet impactful words. Some artists even write their own narrative and dialogue, while others pair up with a writer, but either way, compelling and effective storytelling is a must.

Creating an Actual Comic Novel

Here are the usual steps in producing a comic book or graphic novel. Generally, the story script is written first and then it is laboriously segmented into separate panels with the dialog and captions created for each individual panel. Then the story is drawn on paper board using pencil. After the pencil art is completed, ink is placed over it using India ink. Some artists work with a brush and an ink bottle, while others utilize a nib or dip pen. Some swear by technical pens that have their own reservoirs of ink built in. After the inking is done, the remaining pencil lines are carefully erased. If this comic is intended to be released in color, then the last step is to color all the pages. All of these steps can be completed by one illustrator or by a team of artists. Often these days, artists will use a computer program, such as Adobe Photoshop, for the coloring process.

In: https://careerwatch.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/how-to-become-a-professional-cartoonist/
http://www.theartcareerproject.com/become-comic-book-artist/

Best!

Hi Rita,

Illustration isn't difficult to get into. You can follow a degree track for cartooning and illustration. It's bigger than just drawing, it encompasses hand illustration, digital illustration, sequential illustration (comic and storyboarding), its a pretty wide field. Take a look at The Workbook - https://www.workbook.com/ it's a database professional artists use. You can also take a look at some of the famous classic cartoonists who have been part of one of the most prestigious illustrator organizations in the world - https://www.societyillustrators.org/

Follow a degree program for cartooning and illustration, you can usually get the foundational education at a community college that offers a fine arts degree track or graphic design degree track, then transfer for your BA to a school that has a cartooning/illustration degree track program. If it's an art school like Parsons, SVA, or the Art's Institute, then they will have a strong placement program to help you find employment.