About

Hi there – my name is Mike Monaghan and, among other things, I’m a cartoonist.

I set up this blog to share my passion for drawing cartoons. But more than that, I want everyone to discover their own talent for drawing and be able to experience the joy of seeing the funny side of life and preserving it forever in their own cartoon creations.

Now if you think you have no talent for drawing, then this blog is especially for you, because I’m not a follower of the belief that drawing is hard – in fact I’m a firm believer in exactly the opposite.

Drawing is easy, drawing cartoons is even easier, everyone has the talent to draw and, indeed, everyone should draw. And why do I believe this last statement? Because drawing is a strong and natural form of communication, transcending words in many cases, and in the case of cartoon drawing, well, what better way to share our lives together on this planet than to provide each other with laughter?

Before I go any further though, I want to make something clear – you don’t have to draw well to be a cartoonist.

There are many professional and successful cartoonists whose drawing techniques are basic, simplistic, childlike and underdeveloped, but it doesn’t matter because their insights, their humor, their jokes and stories are so good that no-one cares about the standard of their drawing.

This means that the event that takes place within a cartoon is always more important than the drawing itself. But it doesn’t work the other way round – a superbly drawn cartoon with weak humor just doesn’t cut it. I’d go as far as to say that an artist in this case is not a true cartoonist, but rather a cartoon-illustrator.

And that is fine if that’s what you want to be – but being able to draw your own, strong. original characters and give them an equally strong funny situation to play out – that is where the full joy of cartooning really lies.

That said, this blog is about drawing cartoons – drawing cartoon characters with originality and flair- human characters, animal characters, fantasy characters and caricatures… with the accent on original.

I want you to see all the examples I draw on this blog, and all the tips I share, mainly as a source of inspiration. I can’t tell you the right way to draw cartoons because there is no one right way – every way is right, and the best way is your way. The ways I share here are my ways.

I never learned how to draw cartoons myself – I just picked it up by sketching people, observing characteristics, copying a few styles from cartoons I like, and mixing it all up to create my own work. And that is what I hope you will do too.

Let me say it again… cartooning is not hard, unless you make it so. If you are passionate enough to draw often (and doodling cartoons is drawing too) and you have a sincere interest in drawing the world and people around you, then cartooning is something you’ll pick up and master without even trying.

You have the talent for drawing, you have a sense of humor, you can draw cartoons – it’s easy and it’s fantastic fun. Enjoy what you find here on this drawing cartoon blog and become a cartoonist yourself.

Success.

Mike.