Ian David Marsden

Ian David Marsden is an illustrator, cartoonist, animator, logo and web designer, but he’s also the guy who created the first Google Doodle, ever.

Ian sold his first cartoons to magazines at age 16 and has since sold cartoons to Mad Magazine, The New Yorker and other international publications. His extensive portfolio includes children’s television, corporate clients such as Daimler-Benz, album and booklet artwork for LaToya Jackson, web graphics, and logos and mascots for high-profile events such as the world ski championship in St. Moritz. He was also nominated for the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award in the New Media division in 2002 and has received various other kudos and awards in his 20-year career.

Ian has been using Wacom tablets for over 10 years. “I have been a fan from the start and always found them invaluable tools and assets. I remember saying after 10 minutes with my first Intuos, ‘I can do anything with this!’ A few years ago I switched to the Cintiq, which gives me much-heightened accuracy in my sketching and drawing. My speed has also increased as I tend to get it just right on the first or second take with the Cintiq.

“Occasionally I still make roughs on paper and scan them in, and for some of my magazine cartoon art I work with real dip pens on paper to give me the resistance and the wobbly lines and little ink spatters that I quite like, but these days most of my workflow is 100% digital. I sketch my roughs and storyboards in Autodesk SketchBook Pro and then import them into Adobe Illustrator, Manga Studio or Adobe Photoshop for further rendering. I also enjoy working in Corel Painter on pieces that require a painted oil or watercolor look and feel.”

Ian is an international traveler. There is no way anyone can pin him down to one country!