The Mind Creative JANUARY 2015 | Page 60

This time around, we are including two cartoon strips that was published on Tuesday, 14th October 1904 and 23rd November 1904, under the series called “Dream of the rarebit fiend”. These cartoon strips were created by Zenas Winsor McCay (c. 1867–1871 – July 26, 1934), an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip Little Nemo (1905–1914; 1924–1926) and the animated film Gertie the Dinosaur (1914). For contractual reasons, he worked under the pen name Silas on the comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. From a young age, McCay was a quick, prolific, and technically dextrous artist. He started his professional career making posters and performing for dime museums, and began illustrating newspapers and magazines in 1898. He joined the New York Herald in 1903, where he created popular comic strips such as Little Sammy Sneeze and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. In 1905, his signature strip Little Nemo in Slumberland debuted, a fantasy strip in an Art Nouveau style, about a young boy and his adventurous dreams. The strip demonstrated McCay's strong graphic sense and mastery of colour and linear perspective. McCay experimented with the formal elements of the comic strip page, arranging and sizing panels to increase impact and enhance elements of the narrative. McCay also produced numerous detailed editorial cartoons and was a popular performer of chalk talks on the vaudeville circuit. His comic strip work has influenced generations of cartoonists and illustrators. Source: //en.wikipedia.org/ 60