In this edition of Behind-the-Scenes, Italian cartoonist Enrico Bertuccioli shows us his work process:

'The first step is to make a draft of the cartoon. If I have a clear and simple idea in mind (as in this case), I try to draw it directly on paper, and keep going until the final draft, not making any preliminary study of the subject. If the concept is more complex, I draw some drafts to study the elements that I will put together in the cartoon and then I use a light table to assemble them in the right position. Then I ink the draft and when the ink is dried up I erase the pencil lines. The inked drawing is scanned to be finally completed adding colors, textures, writings etc. using Photoshop.

I like this mix of traditional drawing and digital coloring. I think that this unembellished use of digital coloring that looks 'simple' fits perfectly with my clear line- style and I think the final result works very well.'

'Behind-the-Scenes' is an ongoing series that explores the different ways our cartoonists work. In this edition, Cuban artist Alfredo Martirena explains his work process:

This week's edition of Behind-the-Scenes is again a video, featuring the work process of Italian artist Matteo Bertelli. Although Matteo uses graphic software to put the finishing touches on his work, 95% of the cartoon is made the traditional way, with pen, ink, brush and paint:

This series started out with the concept of simply having cartoonists make some photos and screenshots of how they work. It seems cartoonists never 'simply' do anything, and the bar continues to be raised. After Elchicotriste's hilarious photo report, Dan Carino's excellent video and John Hilliard's audio slideshow, this week's edition is again something special.

Elena Ospina made this professional-looking video of her work process, which is a mix of traditional drawing and digital coloring. Sit back and enjoy!

This week's behind-the-scenes is an audio slideshow by US artist John Hilliard. In his own words it's 'an exhaustive explanation of how I make comics. In less than three minutes. Alcohol and coffee are included.'

About the cartoon : according to a report from Free Speech Radio News and the Electronic Information Privacy Center, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security hired contractors to watch comments of major websites and social media tools like Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.

How to make comics by Hilliard. from John Hilliard on Vimeo.

In this week's Behind-the-Scenes, we take a look at the work of Palestinian cartoonist Fadi Abou Hassan: 

Jean Gouders is an editorial cartoonist from the Netherlands. Like many cartoonists he uses a mix of traditional and digital techniques to produce his work. In the slideshow below we show you how this cartoon (about the violence during the elections in Egypt) was made:

In this week's Behind-the-Scenes we explore the work of U.S. artist Dan Carino. In addition to being an editorial cartoonist, Dan is also a multimedia journalist with his own production company, tilt.SHIFT multimedia. The video below not only demonstrates his excellent skills as a cartoonist, but also his ability to create engaging videos. Enjoy:

The CARTOON Process from Dan Carino on Vimeo.

Orlando Cuellar is an illustrator and graphic humor artist from Bogota, Colombia. His work is a beatiful example of graphic art from Latin America. In the United States and (Western) Europe,  cartoons and graphic humor are often associated with  relatively simple drawings made with pen and ink, often with text. In the general opinion, cartoons are not considered art. 

In other parts of the world, such as Latin America, the delineation between cartoons, graphic humor, and art is far less distinctive. This is also demonstrated by the work of Orlando, which is definitely art in its own right. In the slideshow below you can get an idea of how he creates his work:

In this week's 'Behind-the-Scenes' we take a look at how the work of Ukranian cartoonist Vladimir Kazanevsky is created. Vladimir is a traditional cartoonist, and his work is made entirely without the help of a computer. 

 The slideshow below shows the process, which begins with a rough pencil sketch, followed by inking; coloring is done with tempura paint. Although Vladimir has a very distinctive style, the cross-hatching technique he uses is characteristic of traditional political cartooning. This technique is employed by many cartoonists still working today, but is less popular among the younger generation of cartoonists, who seem to prefer a cleaner style that is better suited to the mix of digital and traditional tools that they use.