1 – We need two elements for creating cartoon: Mind Movement, and Body Movement.
Mind Movement: or mind incarnation, that is idea finding. Each cartoonist must have an idea for creating cartoon; because cartoon world is the world of idea.
Body Movement: It’s in fact the movement after mind movement and sometimes starts simultaneously at the time of drawing. In fact the first drawing, the ultimate design, coloring and the last propartion is called Body Movement.
2) Mind safe: for finding a perfect idea, we need to decode the subject by our mind infor- mation! What’s the meaning of decoding? Let’s give a simple example. If you want to call a friend by the name M, you have to call a special number that is especially for Mr. or Mrs. M. But if you call another number, another person will give the answer. For example if you call number 3344 instead of 3144 you are calling another telephone. Here decoding is very important. So each person has its informaton, pictures, stories and it’s realation from the beginning of his life, and doubtless each cartoonist by using this information can create a perfect and unique cartoon, but why some people can’t do theses and make copy in cartoon?
Because they don’t use golden words of our minds. Uniqueness of people makes every body to create special pictures or special words of his own, because information of each person is different from another person, and ever body has a picture for his words, for example for the word Table has a special picture and for the word cloud has another pictures, so he has to compare his mind words by another words for decoding, and for opening mind lock for the ideas! In fact you have to call the right number to enter to your mind information, so the mind creation’s lock will be open.
3) Brain lock: we always encounter this problem. Because sometimes our mind is locked by a cartoon subject and we can’t use our mind suitable? One of the most important reasons is by having information and pictures of mind, they are not simple to access, because entering mind safe nedds decoding, and each safe has a special code and it’s different for each person, as the safe of each person is different from anotherone.
4) Common ways for idea finding: the ways of idea finding is described completely in the book of master Niroumand, Blue Elephant. By reading this book you’ll find the ways for idea finding. It can be mentioned as the only reference book for young cartoonists.
I recommend cartoonists to read this book and its methods and techniques to find information about creative thinking, but key words is another way for finding these methods.
5) Decoding: suppose you forget the code of your bag. How you can decode it, if you don’t want to see a locksmith? Perhapse you try different numbers, and suddenly the bag will be open. It is the same for mind and mind’s safe and idea finding. Human mind is thinking about more than 60 words and statements. It speaks with itself and it’s always searching for debts and accidents of past days or moments. And a small part of human mind has presence of mind, and it’s natural that concentration on a subject needs practice. Of course most professional cartoonists by conditioning their mind can use their mind safe whenever they want, but it’s hard for the new cartoonists. They can prepare their mind and brain to conditioning step by step. We have to mention that repeating is mother of skill and by practice and repetition mind can automatically find new ideas.
6) The key for words and repetition: suppose you are walking in the street and suddenly you see a person that you haven’t see for years. By seeing and speaking with him, you will remember his memories and even your words together, so you will find lost information by seeing a friend. You had these information in your mind but they appeared by seeing him. It can happen by words too, why? Because human mind by reading each word can make pictures and compare it by the subject you have in your mind, and because you want to create a cartoon, and you have a mind frame these two pictures challenge in your mind. All these happen in less than a second. So the word can be decoded very fast.
7) The key for words and methods: By using words you’ll unconsciouslly come in to the methods, even without thinking about them before. Why do this happen? Because your mind by comparing words in your mind frame that is creating cartoon tries to find solution so it uses methods as fast as it can. Methods such as similarity, contrast, comparing size, order or disorader, surprise, replacement… all these will be considered in mind very fast. Of course these considerations are made in mind by these conformities and we find describtions for them. In fact if you know these conformities or not, your mind will make its actions, but when you read these descriptions and have attention to it you gave a guide to act by it. So reading the methods for idea finding can be attracting these guides that your mind has made, that are very usefull.
8) Example: Our subject is book and we have words such as horse and carrot.These two words have no relation together. So consider them in two different ways. Book and horse. When you use the word horse by the side of book, your mind tries to find satirical relation between these two words and considers specialitiesd of horse from its files. Horse – race, Horse Taming, Shooting Horse, Wounded Horse, Waggon Horse, Zoro Horse, … the first thing that comes in to my mind is a man ridding a wild book like a wild horse and tries to tame it. So you see a cartoon is created. It’s a method. Replacing book to horse! Come to consider the other words. Book and carrot. A man is writing a book by a carrot like pen and all the book’s words are like rabbit, or small rabbits near each other, or an old rabbit by a carrot like book is reading book for child rabbits, or a book by the shape of carrot that are drawing it’s juice. You can make many cartoons immediately. Because you are opening word’s key by decoding guide. The word key brings you to methods, without knowing the methods!
9) Words: I have to say at first in word keys you don’t need to use related words or similar words to your project. You can have a notebook of words, different and unrelated words. Now start writing. What do you write? Expand these words everyday; this way improves your mind capacity. That by working with them you don’t need to word keys and by reading subject, your mind tries to search it immediately because it became conditional, by using mind words and pictures it can create better cartoons. Remember that if the words become more, you can create more cartoons.
10) Words Value: when you work with words, in fact you have a correct address for reaching and you’ll come in to a time and place situation and it’s the best way for mind, because your mind action becomes aiming.
11) Subject Expansion by working with word keys: If your subject is war, your first work have to be creating a picture in a war and then expand it by your words key, because war has great meaning and your mind needs and exact address for creating artwork. Although for cartoonists who are creating cartoons for years their mind became conditional and by seeing word of war they can immediately create a cartoon, but for new cartoonists it’s a little hard. Writing these words is for helping students to train their mind and brain for creative thinking and for coditionin in project finding and it’s obvious that after a few month practice, your need to word key becomes less. But what’s the meaning of Subject Expansion?
We said that for the word war we create a picture in our mind.such as: Tank, Hand Grenade, Destroyed cities, Guns, Rockets, Soldiers at the time of shooting, wounded people from war,soldier’s attanck, … you write whatever comes in to your mind. The other stage is that each word key expands by each pictorial word. You consider each subject and let your mind to find the result. Some time the speed for finding idea surprises you and sometimes you need more concentration.
12) The sample of word keys: key case, key woodpecker, clouds, table, sea, fish, biliard. Saw, clock, pin, boxing bag, fish glass, bird chicken, island, magician, cigarette, surgery room, astronaut, door, tea bag, fishing tour, tamin wild horse, bag, shoe, book, lock, wall plug, man kind, hat, boot, soldier, gun, tank, violin, golf, aeroplane, aeroplan window from inside, kite, ballon, coffin, priest, confessing room, fish glass, fishing, apple, tree, nest, birds chicken by open mouth, envelop, post box, post man, stamp, post man by bycicle, sculpture, sculptor, chair, wheat, barber, barber shop, map of a city, back pack, pencil, sharpener, punch, card grass cutter machine, eye, tear, electric saw, mouse, screw, dog bone, blind, eye test tableau, figure, titanic, liberty statue, justice angel, rope, elephant, giraffe, police, police car, ambulance, …
13) Repetition is mother of skill: looking to the word key reminds us that we can help a lot to our mind readiness by such a practice. And after a few days of practice, and repetition we can create projects very soon. Why is it so? Because mind and brain are forced to find places and pictures from unconcious to conscious, repetition of this can make mind habit and if you created this mind habit, you don’t need much energy to creating idea, because after seeing a theme your mind automatically finds out what to do. The only thing you have to do is adding pictorial information and new meaning, it meanings, it means more studying. Because by each information that you add to your mind archieve you are one step ahead of other person that their mind archieve is less than you. So it’s obvious that studying in all these aspects such as book, film and behaviour consideration improves you.
14) Personal meanings and word key:In word key method you reach exactly to the meaning and shape that is near your personality, feeling and thinking, but using formalism and changing objects shape, reaches you to a cartoon without mind and personality, each cartoon you reach from word key you are infact reached to yourself. Why?
Because you are searching inside your mind not in books, minds and catalogues of other people and your mind just gives you a suitable cartoon by your characteristic and identity. As you know human brain uses filters for finding truth that are made in year by your culture, training and your learnings. So the word key reaches you to what you really are, becase your mind filters delets everything that is not related to your characteristics and identities for finding realities and mind exit.
15) Different methods for idea finding: I have to say that if you work more witrh word key, your mind becomes stronger and becomes strong to use simultaneously many words and take you to more complex and skilled froms.
Things that are especially for your mind. Human brain needs training for creation of cartoon and unfortunately our training in academies are classic. Although it’s necessary, but it seems that students find less relation with it.
I spoke with many art students and I found out that they have all one problem that is idea finding .They don’t know how to think, how to approach to the subject, … many articles are published in cartoon magazines, but it’s just introducing the metods in front of other methods for people that want to find other ways for his thinking on idea finding. Each cartoonist has a method for creating cartoon. In fact everything will be improved by practice and repetition.
I wish the best idea for you!
Massoud Ziai Zardkhashoui
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