Cartoon Roughs

"If you send in pencil roughs and we like the idea," so says a solicitation for Boy's Life, "you will be contacted to do a finish."

"Once these roughs have been approved (and any changes made) I finally get to colour the story," says my friend, illustrator Patricia Storms in this interview at Sandbox World. (Patricia says "colour" on account of she's a Canadian.)

What are "roughs?"

A rough is a pencilled cartoon on inexpensive paper.

How rough is a rough?

A rough should be clear enough for someone to tell what's going on. It's OK for people to see construction lines.

But I do not advise sending a rough. Not to an editor who doesn't know who you are. Even if that editor asks for roughs.

I advise to send finished cartoons that show you at your best.

I've done this ever since sending out my first batch of cartoons. That way, when they do buy from you, then you just send them a print out of the cartoon (or email them a hi res version).

One problem (especially at Bauer Publications) is that the people who edit cartoons tend to change, and you'll sooner or later get someone who doesn't know your work at all. That's when sending something that is finished really helps.

My thanks for Chris over at the Andertalk Forum for bringing up this question.