Skip to main content.
« Previous entry: Sempé | Main page | Next entry: Designing a new ‘Dave Walker’ »

January 18th, 2013

Cartooning tutorial 1: Tea

Tea

Photo: Tea (in black and white for added dramatic effect).

It has been suggested that I write a bit about cartooning and the details of how I do it. So here is tutorial No 1: Make yourself some tea.

My precise tea specifications: I currently drink caffeine-free redbush tea but I will now, after many months of not doing so, drink caffeinated varieties (Going decaf was a health-related experiment that has now been abandoned, though I still don’t drink coffee). No milk or sugar. It can be in a pot, which means you get several cups for your money, but this isn’t essential. A cup and saucer is OK, but I prefer a mug. Ideally one without too much of a pattern (though cartoon mugs are fine).

It may still be possible to draw cartoons if you don’t follow these precise instructions, but I can’t vouch for it working.

8 Comments »



Share this on Facebook:

If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy these (possibly) related articles:

If you liked this post why not send it to someone else by e-mail? Click here to do so.

This is a single post on the Cartoon Blog by Dave posted on Friday, January 18th, 2013 at 12:17 pm. Click here to read all of the latest posts. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Other things technologically advanced people may like to do: trackback from another site, follow responses via the comments feed, bookmark on del.icio.us or digg.

8 Responses to “Cartooning tutorial 1: Tea”


  1. chris clark says:

    The question we need to ask is a profound one. Is Redbush or Rooibos really tea? I’m sorry to be T-dious but isn’t tea something that comes from China or India? All these herbal things that borrow or rather steal the name..I’m not happy!

    More to the point I don’t like it so I will never be a cartoonist like Dave…actually nobody will be one like Dave

    There’s only one Dave Walker,
    One Dave Walker
    There’s only one Dave Waaallllker,
    There’s only one Dave Walker

    January 18th, 2013 at 1:32 pm
  2. Phil Ruse says:

    There’s uncanny for you – “Make some tea” – that’s the almost-exact same requirement for a work-from-home software developer, including the mug. Only milk and sugar please and – this bit will SHOCK you – you put them in before the water. I play by my own rules, it’s the kind of dangerous fellow I am!

    January 19th, 2013 at 11:01 am
  3. Liz from the sewing room says:

    My husband works from home a lot and make a cup of tea is one of the things he does often. Which is really good, as he always makes me one too! In my case, PG tips decaff with milk but no sugar. In his case, a large teaspoon of loose tea in the cup, water poured on, left to brew (stew?) and milk added. Cups are very large ones from Starbucks

    January 19th, 2013 at 2:56 pm
  4. Ann says:

    “make some tea” — also first step for writers – so interesting all this cross cultural congruence!! LOL. My Scottish grandmother always put the water and sugar in the cup before pouring the tea into the cup.

    January 19th, 2013 at 3:09 pm
  5. Sioned-Mair Richards says:

    More interested in the teapot reference. Do you remove tea/teabag to prevent stewing? Do you have a tea-cosy to keep tea warm? Redbush tea is real tea. If Mma Ramotswe drinks it, it’s real.

    January 19th, 2013 at 3:42 pm
  6. Deacon Susan in California says:

    My goodness gracious, this is a very important topic, and I am so pleased it is the No. 1 topic for Essentials of Cartooning. I may not be able to reach even a remedial standard when we get to Pencils 101, but here among the Tea Fan[atic]s I can get an A+. I am a prelactarian; that is something my first spiritual director taught me. I prefer a pot because my granny used to say “and one for the pot” with such a lovely note of anticipation. She gave me cups of tea when my mother was not around to see. Decent milk and teapots are not always available in California; isn’t that shocking…

    January 20th, 2013 at 2:45 am
  7. Jaded for Jesus says:

    Yes, I’m sure we can count redbush as tea, Dave; any old leaf in a cup will do.

    When times were bad, my grandmother used to make something she called ‘cambric tea’. It contained no actual tea (or tea replacement substance) at all, just hot water and a splash of milk. I guess it was the shade of cambric, a basic white cotton cloth. I don’t know if this was her name for it, or a more widely used euphemism.

    Well, mine’s a builder’s tea with milk and no sugar. I gravitate towards Earl Grey in the afternoons. None of this has helped my cartooning, however. Looking forward to the next instalment!

    January 21st, 2013 at 9:47 am
  8. Patricia Brush says:

    I like a different cup of tea every time. I own so many varieties of tea, both black and herbal, that a mover exclaimed “more tea!!!” as he lifted the fourth large box labelled “kitchen: tea”.

    In my opinion, milk ruins tea, even one drop would be enough for me to refuse to drink it. This has happened when someone else was fixing the tea.

    No sugar. Maybe a drop of organic honey, but rarely.

    January 25th, 2013 at 2:13 pm