Millerton News cartoonist shares tips at Scoville library

SALISBURY — Cartoonist Natalia Zukerman gave practical advice on her craft at the Scoville Memorial Library Sunday morning, Feb. 22.

Zukerman has been the regular cartoonist for The Millerton News for about three years. She said her approach is to use a single panel rendered in black and white.

She gave several practical tips. “I don’t use a pencil sharpener. I use an Xacto knife.”

She held up the blade.

“It’s nerdy but you get the best point.”

She doesn’t use an eraser either. “I like to keep the history” of the cartoon in place, she said.

Besides, thanks to the wonders of Photoshop, blemishes and goofs can be fixed later in the process.

Among her tips was a stern instruction to use no more than 20 lines in trying to adapt one of three faces shown on the big screen in the library’s Wardell Room.

Face number one was a shocked face, with raised eyebrows and a round, open mouth.

Face number two was an angry face with furrowed brows and bared teeth.

Face number three belonged to a cat looking very pleased with itself.

As far as subject matter, she gave some examples of cartoons that literally illustrate common expressions, such as “silly goose” or “burning the candle at both ends.”

Karen Vrotsos of the library opened the proceedings with a quick overview of the history of political and/or satirical cartooning, starting with William Hogarth’s 1721 (published in 1724) “Emblematical Print on the South Sea Scheme,” which deals with the fallout from the failure of the British South Sea Company, which caused a serious financial disruption.

The first American political or satirical cartoon published widely is probably Benjamin Franklin’s “Join or Die,” depicting the then American colonies as sections of a rattlesnake. Because the cartoon dates from 1754, it refers to the colonies uniting with the British to fight the French and Indian War.