#hank ketcham

[tomoleary]

Hank Ketcham (1920-2001) Dennis the Menace strip (May 21, 1958)

[spacekidcomics]

Today I find myself thinking again about a cartooning lesson I came across over thirty years ago, one that hit me hard and stuck with me ever since:

Of course, there's lots of excellent cartooning chops going on here (because Hank Ketcham), but what strikes me in particular is....

...the cake sitting on top of a display case, over by the window:

Look at how little of this cake is actually drawn. It's simplified to the point of abstraction. And yet, when you look at the comic, in context it immediately registers as a cake on display. But it does so without jumping out and grabbing your attention away from what's going on. It's a clear and immediate background detail that functions as background -- in part because it's so stripped down.

Genius.

[balu8]

"Hey! Will you stop acting silly?"

Dennis the Menace

by Hank Ketcham

[unreformedcarrots]

[cosmonautroger]

Hank Ketcham

[thebristolboard]

Great little strip about how Hank Ketcham draws, from Dennis the Menace #115, published by Fawcett Publications, April 1973.

[muttonchopsalley]

Dennis the Menace: Shock Therapy (1986)

[the1weird1pencil]

Idk much about them but one thing is for sure:

They would not get along with eachother.

Based on this tweet