Dave Kellett and the Importance of Studying Other Artists

Something all artists do is study other artist’s work. It is what makes us better at our craft. A day in another artist’s shoes can help evolve your own style and expand your view of what seems possible.

I admire many artists, but when it comes to imitating another artist’s style, I tend to turn to cartoonists.  This is something I’ve done all my life, ever since I got a Garfield book and some pencils for Christmas when I was little. I can honestly say that Garfield taught me how to draw. I learned to really, honestly look at what was in front of me and emulate it. Lately I have been really interested in the work of cartoonist Dave Kellett. Dave has two web comics called Sheldon and Drive. Both are clever and insanely interesting, but it is his drawing style that really caught my eye. My first encounter with his work was a cartoon called “Should I have a cookie?”. The cartoon was funny, but the duck was irresistible. Here is the comic that got me hooked:

Since then I draw Arthur T. Duck from time to time as a warm up. Dave Kellett’s style is very geometric and simple, but very appealing. The heads or important features of his characters are often organic and soft, while the rest of the body is strictly geometric. You can see evidence of this in the comic above, and also in the quick sketch I did of Arthur the other day, below.

Web comics are a growing trend as newspapers are being phased out. Dave is one of several cartoonists that have self-sufficient web comics. This is achieved through several methods of revenue. Selling advertising space on the website is a good source, however, I admire that Dave does this while still maintaining a clean and professional looking website as opposed to some of his fellow cartoonists’ sites. Another key source of revenue is selling the original artwork as well as prints of the strips. Dave still draws Sheldon using traditional methods, which provides opportunities for selling the originals, but he draws Drive using a Cintiq so he only sells these in book form. He also sells the Sheldon comics in various books and has other merchandise as well. All in all, building up a successful web comic is a magnificent feat in this changing art form. Dave is currently working on a film called Stripped which covers the history of comics and where it is going. It has already screened at various places and should be fully completed soon so keep an eye out for it! Here are the links to Dave’s excellent webcomics, Sheldon and Drive: Sheldon   Drive. Be sure to check them both out!