cartoon

Humorous or satirical drawing or caricature; a strip cartoon or comic strip; traditionally, the base design for a large fresco, mosaic, or tapestry, transferred to a wall or canvas by tracing or pricking out the design on the cartoon and then dabbing with powdered charcoal to create a faint reproduction. Surviving examples include Leonardo da Vinci's Virgin and St Anne (National Gallery, London).

Humorous drawing Cartoons were originally drawn to encourage people to think about political or social affairs. They were also created to make people laugh, and were often accompanied by a caption. In style, cartoons are simple drawings rather than serious artworks, and are made up of basic lines, with little or no shading, giving a ‘flat’ image. Colour is usually simple, and flatly applied. A cartoon can be a single picture, or a series of pictures known as frames. Film animations are also known as cartoons because they are made up of similar frames.

Preliminary drawing Originally a cartoon was the full size preliminary drawing made in preparation for a final work. The cartoon was either used purely as a guide for the artist, or traced or pricked out for use as an exact plan for the final piece. Michelangelo, for example, transferred the images of his cartoons directly onto the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel during the making of his fresco. Raphael's cartoons for tapestries for the Sistine Chapel are now held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.