Choosing the Best Cartoonist Desk

Mickey Mouse. The Magic School Bus. Tom & Jerry. Ed, Edd n Eddy. The Looney Tunes. And who could forget other classics – Pokémon and Dragon Ball Z? What do all these have in common? The concepts for these cartoons at some point were all drawn with pen and paper, and very likely, on a cartoonist desk.

If you’re considering drawing some cartoons and leaving your imprint on the world, this blog will offer guidance on points to ponder before you purchase a cartoonist desk (or as some others call it, an artist desk, drawing desk or drafting desk).

In this article we’ll cover these areas:

• important features of a cartoonist desk
• two cartoonist desk styles
• accessories to consider

Without further ado, let’s learn more about this essential piece of furniture in the cartoon creating process!

Important features of a cartoonist desk

What’s critical to each individual cartoonist, artist, painter and so on undoubtedly varies, but there are certainly some common traits that just about any creator can appreciate.

A big, flat & spacious surface

There are potentially some advantages of drawing in a narrow space. Maybe with less area to move, some peculiar ideas will start percolating in your head in response to this restriction. But unless that’s your specific creating style, drawing on a cramped surface can restrict creative potential. A good cartoonist desk eliminates that restriction and provides ample area for a creator to turn ideas into reality, no matter how big or small.

That large surface area, however, needs to have uniform smoothness. It’d be a pity if you’re drawing a beautiful, very intricate character, and then all of a sudden, your pencil hits a bump on your desk. A small mishap like this might ruin the entire sketch.

A good cartoonist desk is flat and free of air bubbles and depressions.  Checking for these problems in advance when you’re selecting a cartoonist desk will help ensure your projects go smoothly and your work is unmarred by accidents.

Adjustable height and angle

Pretend you’re halfway through a detailed illustration. You’ve been sitting up straight the entire time, and now you want to draw from a different angle (plus give your back a rest). That’s where adjustability comes into play.

A cartoonist desk that allows cartoonists to adjust its height and angle enables greater comfort and new possibilities for artistic expression. To some people, these changes are merely fine-tuning a few degrees and the height of the desk. But to the creator, a new perspective on the work can demolish mental barriers to creativity, reveal previously unnoticed problems with the design and ultimately help make progress.

Configurable tool space

Some days might require colored pencils. On other days, you might need several different types of brushes, erasers or stencils. Maybe you need mountains of clips for a particular round of designs. Or perhaps on some occasions, you need to remove all your small tools and make way for something bigger, something that occupies the area of all the small tools combined.

No matter which tools or how much space you need, to avoid frustration and wasting time, when drawing, painting and designing it’s essential that you’re able to conveniently and quickly access what you need. You also need to be able to customize your workspace to meet the demands of each sketch or project. And for this reason, having a part of the cartoonist desk that stores your items and is configurable (like pictured) is a surefire way to increase productivity.

Wheels – yes or no?

A portion of cartoonists might feel the need to move their desk around from time to

time. If that’s desired, wheels are a great addition to a cartoonist desk. But they can also present a drawback: unexpected and undesired movement.

Drawing on a moving surface is not easy. The movements can make creating less precise and ruin hours of work if one stroke of the pencil goes awry. If suddenly your desk moves because of the wheels and you have to restart a

sketch, they’ll quickly become a major nuisance. Owing to this reason, some cartoonists prefer to have a desk with rubber feet instead to ensure no unwanted motion.

On some varieties of cartoonist desks, the wheels can be locked to prevent movement and in others the wheels are detachable so that end users can decide if they want to roll their desk or not. Ultimately, buying a desk with or without wheels is up to you.

Stable desk legs and surface

All good desks require stability and cartoonist desks are no exception. A very

stable writing surface and desk legs will help guarantee that when you’re drawing, painting or designing, you’re not affected by undesired motion. When creating, you don’t want unforeseen rocking or swaying of your furniture to negatively influence your work – right?

Styles

While there are many types of cartoonist desks, the two below are for reference as they demonstrate arguably the most important difference amongst the styles: material.

The material that is right for your situation depends on how you plan to use the desk. Glass cartoonist desks offer the advantage of being transparent. This aspect is great if you’d like to trace something and put a light underneath the desk so you can see the lines and contours of the illustration more easily.

Conversely, you might not like the feel of glass or not desire transparency. In this situation, a wooden cartoonist desk might best suit your needs.

Wood

Glass

Accessories to consider

A cartoonists desk isn’t complete without a few staple items. When considering your purchase of the best cartoonist desk for your situation, consider how these items will fit into your workspace too:

• a clamp light, standing light and/or lightbox
• a ruler and protractor
• paperweights
• a tablet PC, laptop or computer
• sketchbooks
• utensils
• rolls of sketching paper

These accessories need to go someplace. Are you going to put them in a closet or on a storage rack, or would you prefer to keep them all together? Some cartoonist desks have extra space on their side or underneath. If you prefer everything together, then you can consider a cartoonist desk like this.

Conclusion

Creating a cartoon, or any other work that requires creativity or precision for that matter, can be influenced by a myriad of different variables – how you feel that day, the weather, the people you’ve encountered recently, and so on.

Although these facets of life are not always perfectly in your control, what’s absolutely in your grasp is arranging the best workspace for yourself to optimize your creative process and output. A major part of establishing that workspace is deciding which tools and furniture deserve to be there.

By contemplating the points mentioned in this article, you can more reliably choose the best cartoonist desk, and before you know it, you’ll soon have your own perfect creative studio!

P.S.

If you’ve got an amazing picture of you or someone you know using a Yaheetech cartoonist desk, be sure to post about it on Instagram so we can reshare it! You can find us on Instagram at yaheetech_official.