Some background on this comic:

Transcript:

Because The Far Side is a vertical, single-panel cartoon, I’ve rarely had the luxury of being able to draw long things (like whales, snakes, ships, etc.) in an accommodating shape. In general, the perspective has to be from front to rear, as opposed to side to side. (Sunday cartoons, which I started not long ago, and modified dailies are the only exceptions.)

In cartoon strips, you frequently see the latter approach—because the strip lends itself well to horizontal images. In The Far Side, as the examples on this page indicate, ships come at you head on, classrooms are view from either the front of the back, and riding in the car is often seen from the perspective of the backseat looking forward or from the windshield looking inward. I just can’t draw a '59 Cadillac in profile.

I’m saying this because I drew The Far Side for years without truly being cognizant of why I approached it this way. I was just trying to figure out ways to cram things into a little rectangle. It was a friend of mine (also a cartoonist) who pointed out that I had inadvertently developed one or two drawing skills in the process.

The limitation of space I fought in the beginning ended up being the best drawing instructor I ever had.