Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Calvin and Hobbes, created by Bill Watterson, is one of my favorite comics because of its artistic style, design sense, and humor. These attributes also make it very popular and is one of the most-liked comics around, at least where I grew up. It could be that I grew up with a lot of awesome nerds, too. :)

Watterson's artistic cartoon style and watercolor technique is what draws my attention the most. He doesn't just use the generic bold black cartoon line with flat bright colors. Watterson utilizes the bold black cartoony line in specific areas to create shapes of color. The color itself has character and isn't just one value; it has multiple values within itself. This is one of the reasons why I find watercolor to be a beautiful medium to use.

His design sense with the color shapes in each composition is portrayed well. The graphic bold line carries you in and out of areas throughout the image. Items in the foreground and middle ground are normally outlined in the bold black line to emphasize objects in the picture to give it a sense of space and depth. This spatial awareness also helps with his design layout.

Not only is the comic amazing to look at, but it is very entertaining to read as well. Calvin and Hobbes is about a little boy and a tiger that like to go out and go on adventures, I must warn you it is very cute. I love the concept of a little boy and a tiger being best friends doing everything together because in reality that's just not possible, but it's entertaining to think about. In the comic everyone views the tiger as a stuffed animal, but Calvin sees him as a best friend that's alive.

In conclusion, I loved reading these comic strips. They are awesome, cute, and funny. Worth the time to sit down and laugh.