Career as Cartoonist

Cartoonist is a specialist who expresses his/her thoughts, feelings, and ideas through cartoons, drawings, and sketches. An epitome of art, a cartoon encompasses creativity and communicates a thoughtful message to the masses. Even though cartoons are drafted to generate humor and fun, but they induce the readers or viewers to find out the actual meaning depicted by the images. Whether it is a hilarious subject enhancing the cat-mouse race or a serious topic criticizing the political world, cartoonists have a wide range of subjects to create cartoons on. The comic cartoon strips published in daily newspapers make a perfect example of what exactly a cartoonist does. Immense dedication and ample innovation is required to become a cartoonist. Creative thinking, technical expertise, arty drawing, and excellent observation are some significant characteristics of a cartoonist. In short, a perfect fusion of intellect and imagination should come naturally to a cartoonist. By replacing the words, a cartoonist conveys the same thought through images, with essential elements of humor.

Course Details
Professional qualifications become secondary requirement, when it comes to building a career as a cartoonist. Anyone, who is innovative, good at communicating his/her thoughts through sketches, and has a good sense of humor, can try his/her luck in this field. Interested individuals can opt for graphic designing or sketching courses at graduation or post graduation diploma levels. For cartooning, knowledge of animation is highly useful, particularly when one wants to enter the electronic media.

Career Prospects
The profession of a cartoonist has emerged as a lucrative career option in India. One can work as a political cartoonist or a comic cartoonist in any newspaper or magazine, or can seek employment opportunities in animation houses. Nowadays, almost every newspaper reserves some space for cartoons.

Top Colleges Offering UG/PG/Other Courses
Keeping in view the demand of cartoonists in print and electronic media, many institutes running courses in animation have started emphasizing on the sketching skills of their students. Some prominent institutions, where one can develop skills for cartooning, are: Indian Institute of Cartoonists, Bangalore; Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai; Santhanu’s Chitira Vidyalayam, Chennai; The Raye Burns School, New Delhi; Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Baroda, Vadodara; Kerala Cartoon Academy, Kochi; Industrial Design Centre, IIT, Mumbai; Arena Animation Academy, New Delhi; Global School of Animation & Games, New Delhi; Zee Institute of Creative Arts, Mumbai; Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC), New Delhi; and National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad.

Remuneration
Remuneration of a cartoonist depends on the organization he/she is working for. A cartoonist can start his/her career with a salary between Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 15,000 per month. With experience and proficiency, one can expect higher pay packages.