| Canadian cartoonist
Erik Sansom was born on the twelfth day
of Christmas in 1959. His hobbies include
cartooning, reading and listening to jazz
and classical music. He spent many happy
hours as a youth travelling across
Ontario by train and finds them
fascinating. However, the model train
layout depicted in Toy Trunk Railroad
exists only in his head. (sorry folks) He
is always available for freelance work of
any kind, so if your company newsletter
or flyer needs an illustration or cartoon
- contact Erik. He has been a member of the
National Cartoonists Society since 1992.
HOW I GOT STARTED - THE
ARTIST'S BIOGRAPHY
I guess I've always
drawn cartoons, and from the moment I
learned that people did it for a living,
it was my chosen career path. My first
published cartoons appeared when I was
fourteen. I was lucky enough to get a
weekly comic strip in a local Toronto
paper, and it ended up running for five
years. It was a wonderful learning
experience for me and a fantastic break
for one as young as I was.
After that strip ended,
I decided I needed more formal education
if I wanted to be a fulltime cartoonist,
so I enrolled in a three year animation
course. Upon completion, I knew that my
heart really wasn't in it ( wish I'd
figured that out in the first place ), so
I set about earning my living through a
series of struggling artist jobs while
trying to crack the cartoon syndication
market .....it took me ten long years.
My syndicated
children's cartoon feature GREEN
EARTH GUARDIANS started
running in North American papers in
January of 1991, and continues to this
day. However, the games and puzzles this
feature contains do not completely
satisfy my cartoonist's soul ...only a
daily comic strip could do that.
Happily, when the
Internet arrived, it presented me with a
way to present my comic strip TOY TRUNK
RAILROAD to the
world (well...some of it anyway). It has
appeared on the web since June 3, 1996. I
hope you enjoy reading it here.
HOW TO DRAW CARTOONS:
My Personal Cartoon Working Methods
I love working with a
brush, but I have difficulty using one in
the small space that syndicated comic
strips usually provide. Therefore, I've
invented an unusual and personal method
for working with one. I draw each
individual panel twice the size as usual
( with a 0 Gold Sable brush), and then,
using a quality photocopier, I reduce
each panel by 50% and glue it down on my
working original. The lettering -- I've
already done on the original, which
leaves only adding the word balloons and
a little touch up. It's rather a time
consuming process, but the results are so
pleasing to me that I feel it's worth the
extra effort. And after working like this
since 1995, I can't imagine myself doing
it any other way.
My originals are
approx. 14 by 5 inches, and I use a
Micron Pigma .08 for my lettering and
touch up.
MY LIFE PHILOSOPHY
Work hard, have fun,
and leave behind a few good cartoons!
Erik Sansom is the
Canadian artist/ humorist behind the
world's only internet railroad comic
strip. He studied animation at Sheridan
College and graduated in 1984. He has
been cartooning professionally since 1974. He would love to hear from you
via Email
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