Cincinnati Cartoonist 

Jim Borgman (1954- )

1. Who has heard of Jim Borgman? What is he known for? (editorial cartoonist for the Cincinnati Enquirer and co-creator of the comic strip “Zits”)

Jim Borgman was born and raised in Price Hill, on the west side of Cincinnati . His father was a commercial artists, so there were always art supplies around the house. Jim began drawing and sketching at an early age. He attended Kenyon College in central Ohio , thinking that he wanted to be a writer. He finally settled on a major in art, and drew cartoons for the school newspaper but said, “It never occurred to me that people made a living doing cartooning.”

In 1976, he was hired by the Cincinnati Enquirer--a week after he graduated from college--to be the paper’s editorial cartoonist. He won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s top award for editorial cartoonists, in 1991.  His work is notable for its warmth, compassion, and biting edge.

2. What are some of the purposes of a cartoon? (to entertain, make a political statement,   take a social stand, poke fun at someone or something, express sympathy or emotion)

3. What makes a cartoon effective? (In Jim Borgman’s words, “Good cartoons can make us wince, gasp, laugh, turn puple, ponder retort or snort coffee out our noses. The best cartoons make us do several of these at once.)

Jim Borgman’s Art Technique:

1) Make a pencil sketch.

2) Ink over pencil lines using a fine-tipped red sable brush and touch it up with permanent felt-tipped markers.

3) Use white-out to paint over mistakes.

4) Rub the finished inked drawing with a soft, kneaded eraser to make pencil lines disappear.

5) To get a grayish, dot-screen effect in some parts of the cartoon, apply a clear chemical onto the drawing paper, which makes the dots appear.

(Hand out copies of the editorial cartoon to each student.  You may choose to do different Borgman editorial cartoons depending on the season or on specific events taking place at the time of your lesson.)

Bengals vs. Little Sisters of the Poor

1)         What is the message?

2)         Do you think it’s effective? Why or why not?

3)         Why is it more effective than simply writing “Those Bengals really stink”?

Statue of Liberty Crying

1)         This cartoon appeared on September 11, 2001 . It has no words, but what story does it             tell?

2)         What point is he trying to make?

3)         Do you think it’s effective? Why or why not?

Boy Showing His Friend Dad’s Hidden Gun

1)         Do you think Jim Borgman is for or against gun control?

2)         What point is he trying to make?

3)         Do you think it’s effective? Why or why not?

(Time permitting, you may want to discuss additional Borgman editorial cartoons.)

In 1997 Jim Borgman teamed up with Jerry Scott to create the popular comic strip, “Zits”. “Zits” appears in nearly 1,000 newspapers worldwide and chronicles the life and times of 15-year old Jeremy Duncan.   It has been voted Best Comic strip for two consecutive years by the National Cartoonists Society.

(Hand out a copy of the five “Zits” cartoons to each student.  There also are “Zits” strips from Sunday papers in a green folder in the 7^th and 8th grade drawer.  You may also want to save some additional Sunday strips to add to the folder.)

“Zits”

1)   1)           Why is the name of the strip “Zits”?

2)         What is humorous about these scenarios?

3)         Can you identify with Jeremy, the teen-ager?

ART PROJECT:

Students will draw a comic strip.  Ask the teacher to have the students prepare ahead of time for this lesson by coming up with a joke, a funny idea or something amusing about being a teen that they can illustrate.  Bring in joke books, or pre-plan some ideas for the students who are not prepared.

Supplies:  drawing paper, pencils, colored pencils

Included in the Art Awareness closet there is a packet on how to draw funny people.  You may want to make a copy for each student to use.  Or print from the website www.sjpto.org/ArtAwareness.