Now search for [Cat Xiaole], the first associated search that jumps out is actually "cat Xiaole how not to draw".
In fact, it is not that we don't paint anymore, but that we don't pay attention anymore.
Cat Xiaole, formerly known as Chen Le, was born in Tonghua, Jilin Province, and now lives in Qingdao, Shandong. Graduated from the department of Chinese of Siping Normal University. He has worked as an organ cadre, teacher, migrant worker, and street performer, and in 2000, he started his comic career, with his representative works "A Decline Online" and "Cat Three Dogs Four". In 2011, with a total ten-year royalty income of 17 million yuan, it ranked 4th in the 6th China Writers Rich List "Comic Writers Rich List".
Baidu Encyclopedia's information does not indicate the birth year of Cat Xiaole, but the author profile of "Douban Reading" still states that Cat Xiaole was born in 1974 and is 45 years old this year - is it unexpectedly young? After all, we all grew up reading his books, and now more than ten years have passed. It is estimated that it is also said by fans that "from childhood to see big", Uncle Cat himself also sent a Weibo complaint, claiming to have a 43-year-old young heart, or very "disobedient to the old".
Only to say that he is one year younger, this famous humor cartoonist in China, surprisingly "rigorous". This can be seen from his Weibo - the copy of each blog post is complete with punctuation. Even now, many people are accustomed to posting on the Internet without punctuation at the end of sentences, and Cat Xiaole still adheres to his habits and punctuation is complete. Reading more of his Weibo will actually produce the impression of "neat and tidy". However, this may also be related to his graduation from the Chinese Department.
But rigor does not mean being restrained, and Cat Xiaole still has the courage to jump out of the framework and make new attempts. For example, they will criticize themselves on Weibo for things that they can't see, such as daring to try to make comics that are new (live-action comics that use digital cameras and computers to produce and write their own performances, and comic authors, debate the idea of "Comic K Pinch" in the form of different topics), such as trying new drawing tools, or developing new personal hobbies.
Cat Xiaole's masterpiece "A Decline", which has been serialized since 2003, has been serialized for 16 years now, and has been published in the 60th volume. Once upon a time, the "A Decline" written by this domestic humor comic master accompanied us through the journey of primary and secondary schools.
Ah Wan looks average, studies in general, has a special fate with 0 points, loves to eat stinky tofu, and also stalls a female tablemate who loves to bully him "Big Face Sister". He was like a classmate in every class, with a grade crane tail, but often whimsical classmates. He's not as far away from us as the comic book protagonists with halos. We can find intimacy in this "fading child".
Why did the "Ah Wan", which was once loved by us, gradually disappear from our vision?
The reasons are manifold. First of all, "A Decadence" was serialized in 2003, that mobile phones and computers are not so smart, the network is not so developed, and the traffic of 30M a month may not be used up. The way people read comics is at most through books, and "Ah Wan", which was serialized in "Comic Party" at that time, won the love of children with its humorous and funny plot and the style of the Q version. Almost all major bookstores and school commissaries can see the figure of "Ah Wan", so that "Ah Wan" became one of the comic books that teachers confiscated the most at that time.
According to the statistics of the publishing house, the ratio of genuine and pirated copies of the cat Xiaole comic series has reached 1:1, and cat Xiaole helplessly said that if it were not for piracy, his royalty income would be 2 times that of now. This also reflects the popularity of "Ah Wan" in China in the era of the prevalence of print media. However, the development of science and technology is rapid, with the popularity of the Internet and smart devices, people's ways to obtain information have become diverse, print media is no longer flourishing, and Cat Xiaole's works, including "A Decadence", have not been well promoted to the Internet.
In the era of print media, because of the limited platform, there are not many opportunities for cartoonists to show, and with the development of the Internet, after online media began to be active, everyone has the opportunity to let everyone see their own works, and the creative atmosphere is active. As a result, a large number of webcomicians have emerged, with different styles, more readers' choices, and distracted attention, and naturally they will not be too specific to a work.
Secondly, there is also a reason that we came into contact with "Ah Wan" too early. If it was only after the end of the college entrance examination that we came into contact with this comic, then perhaps we are still a big fan of it now. However, most people are exposed to it in elementary school or middle school, and after three years of busy high school, we gradually forget about it. Now, it will still be our precious memory, but we will not be so insistent on chasing the series.
Moreover, when we grow up, we will want to see more in-depth comics, and it is not easy to be moved by some small paragraphs, and our requirements have become higher. There will even be readers who think that the stem in "A Decline" is somewhat vulgar, or think that the story of "A Decline" is not strong, and it is forced to be funny in order to be funny, and it has been serialized for so many years, and there is a feeling of weakness in the succession.
But is "Ah Wan" really just a work that children can only watch? No. The values conveyed by "A Decadence" have actually been quite positive. Although Ah Wei has done a lot of "destruction", his starting point will never be bad. I remember that there was a plot in which Ah Wei returned to the countryside to accompany his grandmother. Grandma was working in the fields, and Ah Wei found that it was starting to rain outside at home, so he ran to deliver an umbrella to Grandma. Once when Grandma was sick, Ah Wei was determined to make some good food and supplement Grandma's body.
Are the laughter in "Ah Wan" so vulgar? Nor does it. After watching "A Decline", you will find that many of the small plots in it come from life. For example, in the following paragraph, everyone may have the same feeling, that is, grandma is always afraid that her grandchildren will not have enough to eat. After the exaggerated expression of cat Xiaole, the laughter point comes out. Sometimes, we need some exaggerated or artistic expression to give the reader a visual impact, quickly construct a character image, and make it easy for the reader to understand. As for whether this is a vulgarity, the benevolent will be the same.
Cat Xiaole can embark on the path of a cartoonist, which is inseparable from his own persistence and the support of his wife. In the information of Baidu Encyclopedia, we can see that he graduated from the department of Chinese, has also done a lot of work, and is a cartoonist who has been halfway out of the family. In the early years, although he showed a certain talent for art, his family still hoped that he would engage in a more stable job, after all, in the eyes of the older generation, artists are always "famous after death". By painting, how do you support yourself and your family?
After a series of jobs such as civil servants, people's teachers, and advertising company employees, Mao Xiaole knew what he didn't want to do. At the age of 26, at the invitation of a friend who opened an illustration studio, Cat Xiaole went to Jilin to learn to draw comics, becoming the biggest apprentice in the studio. Saying that it is learning, in fact, according to a comic book, a manuscript and reference materials given to him by the boss, he groped and completed the illustration task given by the boss.
From this point on, Cat Xiaole opened his comic path, just drawing illustrations at first, because he had just started, and he still needed to go to various media outlets to introduce himself. Even if an illustration only costs 20 yuan, he is not sloppy, takes every illustration job seriously, and gradually, more and more people look for him to draw illustrations, and his income gradually rises.
In 2001, when "Comic Party" was launched, the editor-in-chief of the magazine personally went to Qingdao to ask Cat Xiaole for a manuscript, hoping to open a column for him and give him a lot of creative space. This appointment is also a major turning point in the life of Cat Xiaole, and Ah Wan was also born and became the popular main work of "Comic Party". Until today, Ah Wei also has his own IDENTITY card, as well as many peripheral products.
Well, today's column ends here, let us wish Teacher Cat Xiaole a successful completion of his small goal of drawing 100 volumes of "Ah Wan"! Come on!