Cartertoons.com: About Jon

History

I started cartooning... well, ever since I can remember. Being born on April Fool's day was a sure sign. When I was 18 years old landed my first regular freelance job as cartoonist for a local weekly newspaper and I've been working neurotically on these silly little drawings ever since. Cartooning is great because it's such a pure outlet for aggression.. if you come home at the end of a very bad day you can make a violent drawing and somehow things are okay again, even if only in small measure.
The comic strip I've worked on the most is my panel "Funny Files," which I began writing and drawing in the summer of 1989. It appears in a variety of magazines, newspapers, and web sites, and I'm currently working on licensing. I also work on and off doing other comics, and I frequently paint abstract/pop paintings that relate to the cartoon form. Below you will find more info about the stuff I've done and contact information as well.

Methodology and Materials

I have numerous sketch books filled with ideas that I refer to when creating an original cartoon panel - and I'm always filling up a new sketchbook, too. After I select a cartoon I like from a book I draw it in finished form in a preprinted panel. My latest panel design was created in Adobe Illustrator 8.0. I have my panel designs printed at a local print shop and I usually have 250 sheets printed at a time. These printed cartoon panels have the Funny Files by-line above the panel as seen in publications and measure approximately 7" across by 9" high. They are printed on 2-ply bristol vellum sheets. I draw the cartoons in these panels using Speedball technical pens and India ink. I use B-6, A-5, and B-4 pen nibs, with Speedball Super Black and Higgins Black Magic inks. After finishing the drawings in the panels I scan the line art into Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and process the cartoons adding color and/or halftones, reduce the cartoon size, and add copyright tags. They are then ready to be sent to clients by snail-mail, e-mail, or fax.

Past and Present Clients

Newspapers/Magazines:
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The Hagerstown Exponent, The Richmond Graphic, Calls Freak (Australia), Cartoon Cavalcade, The Richmond Palladium-Item, Winchester News-Gazette, Indianapolis Weekender, The Indiana Daily Student, The Rennsselaer Republican, The Duqoin Evening Call, The Other Paper (Columbus, Ohio), SanJose Spartan Daily, The Comic Press News, The Joker Monthly, The East Bay Monthly(CA), Satire Quarterly, Cartoon Comedy Club, Medical Economics, King Features Syndicate (The New Breed), Tribune Media's College Press Service, Snicker, The Journal of Silly (London, England), Laf!, Dragon Magazine, Reflex Magazine (Gdansk, Poland).
Books:
Artist Market, 1996 Edition.
Latte Laughs (Design One, Bellevue, WA), 1996.
Understanding Psychology (McGraw-Hill), 2000.
Funny Files, E-book series (Jambooks), 2000.
Taking Your Pet to the Vet (ECW Press), 2001.
How to Landscape Your Yard Without Knowing a Damn Thing About Trees and Shrubs, (Forte Publishing), 2003.
Funny Files: A Collection of Cartoons by Jon Carter (Page Free Publishing), 2003.
The Queen of Persia (Shazak Productions), 2004.
Miracle Lights (Shazak Productions), 2004.
Poker Talk (Cardoza Publishing), 2005.
Corporate work:
Cashel Consulting, Dana Corporation, Exceltra, inc., Institute for Healthcare Advancement, Whitewater Community Broadcasting, Air Park, inc.,Ready Reading Glasses,inc., Speaking Results, inc.
Digital work:
Cartoons included in program E-mail Impact (Appian Software, 1994); paintings selected by juried exhibition for inclusion in Best Contemporary Art CD-Rom (1995 & 1996 Editions, Art Communication International); freelance coloring pages (cartoon line art) for online coloring book company The Crayon House.
Web Sites:
These web sites regularly showcase my cartoons and/or send traffic to this site:
Kangaroocards.com Mamak.com NC Buy Pics4fun Stu's Comic Strip Connection (Showcase) Jill's Joke Line Lil' Games Shazak Marianne Richmond Studios

Newspaper and Television Interviews

Hagerstown Exponent: Sept.20, 1989, May 8, 1991, Aug. 17, 1994
Palladium Item: Feb. 26, 1995, Oct. 19, 1996
New Voice: April 10, 1995, Oct. 1996
The Sunday/Graphic: Feb. 26, 1992, Mar. 29, 1992
Future Features Magazine: Fall/Winter, 1994
Palladium Item: October 19, 2003

WCTV, Richmond, IN: Focus on the Arts, Feb.1996(cameo), Mar. 1998(15 min. interview).
America's Talking Network: National interview (approx. 20 min.) with Lee Salem (UPS), Mar. 26, 1996.
WDTN, Dayton, OH: Regional interview, Sept. 19, 1996.

Exhibits

Whitewater Valley Annual Art Exhibition, 1992.
One Man Show, Indiana University East Art Gallery, 1996.
European Cartoon Biennial Exhibition, Belgium, 1999.
International Biennial of Humour & Satire, Gabrovo, Bulgaria, 1999.
Indiana Cartoonists, Nettle Creek Cultural Center, Oct. 2007