Editing Winsor McCay (section)

==Style==
Virtually from the beginning, McCay innovated with the forms of his chosen media. He varied the size and shape of comic strip panels for dramatic effect, as in the second instalment of ''Little Nemo'' (October 22, 1905), where the panels grow to adapt to a growing forest of mushrooms.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=21}} Few of McCay's contemporaries were so bold with their page layouts. Near-contemporary [[George Herriman]] with ''[[Krazy Kat]]'' was the most notable example, but it was not until a generation later that cartoonists such as [[Frank King (cartoonist)|Frank King]] with ''[[Gasoline Alley (comic strip)|Gasoline Alley]]'', [[Hal Foster]] with ''[[Prince Valiant]]'', and [[Roy Crane]] with ''[[Captain Easy]]'' attempted such daring designs on their Sunday pages.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|pp=21–22}}

[[File:Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-10-22) bottom half.jpeg|thumb|upright=2.5|center|alt=Little Nemo in Slumberland comic strip episode from October 22, 1905. Nemo dreams he is in a growing mushroom forest. Panels grow to accommodate the growing mushrooms.|McCay experimented with the formal elements of his strips, as when he had panels grow to accommodate a growing mushroom forest in a ''[[Little Nemo]]'' episode for October 22, 1905.{{efn|{{Commons file|Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-10-22).jpeg|the full strip}} }}]]

McCay's detailed [[hatching]]{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=48}} and mastery of [[Perspective (graphical)|perspective]] enhanced the illusions in his drawings, particularly in ''Little Nemo''.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=31}} Fantastic grotesqueries such as what McCay witnessed during his time at the Wonderland and Eden Musee appeared often in McCay's work.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=28}} McCay was noted for the speed and accuracy with which he could draw; crowds of people would gather around to watch him paint billboards.{{sfn|Taylor|2005|loc=Introduction}}

[[File:Rip 1888 Un projet téméraire.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=|Pages from ''Images Enphantines'' displayed the same sort of formal playfulness as in McCay's work<br />Rip, "Un projet téméraire", 1888]]

McCay had a taste for the ornate. The architecture he drew was inspired by that of carnivals, the 1893 [[World's Columbian Exposition]] in Chicago and the detailed illustrations in British illustrated newspapers ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'' and ''[[The Graphic]]''. The {{Interlanguage link|Maison Quantin|fr}} of Paris published a series of illustrated books called ''Images Enphantines'', whose pages bear a striking resemblance to McCay's early ''Little Nemo'' strips, both in their graphic sense and their imaginative layouts.{{sfn|Smolderen|2014|p=}}

To Canemaker, McCay had an "absolute precision of line"{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=209}} akin to those of [[Northern Renaissance]] artist [[Albrecht Dürer]] and 19th-century French illustrator [[Gustave Doré]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=209, 212}} McCay drew with Higgins black drawing ink, [[Joseph Gillott's (pens)|Gillott]] {{Numero|290}} pens, [[Eraser#Artist's gum eraser|art gum]], a [[T-square]] and [[Set square|angle]], and an assortment of [[Venus Pencils|Venus]] lead pencils.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=127}} In his early magazine cartoons McCay often painted in [[gouache]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=55}}

McCay used [[metafiction]]al techniques such as [[Self-reference|self-referentiality]] in his work. This was most frequent in ''Dream of the Rarebit Fiend'', where McCay sometimes put himself in the strip, or had characters address the reader. Sometimes characters become aware of the strip itself—a jealous lover tears the very strip apart in which he appears; another character fastens panel borders to his strip when he realizes the artist has forgotten them;{{sfn|Bukatman|2012|p=63}} and in a ''Sammy Sneeze'' episode Sammy's sneeze destroys the panel borders.{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=25}}

In contrast to the high level of skill in the artwork, the dialogue in McCay's speech balloons is crude, sometimes approaching illegibility,{{sfnm|1a1=Gutjahr|1a2=Benton|1y=2001|1p=166|2a1=Heller|2y=2007}} and "disfigur[ing] his otherwise flawless work",{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=28}} according to critic [[R. C. Harvey]].{{sfn|Harvey|1994|p=28}} This is further highlighted by the level of effort and skill apparent in the title lettering.{{sfn|Gutjahr|Benton|2001|p=166}} McCay seemed to show little regard for the dialogue balloons, their content, and their placement in the visual composition. They tended to contain repetitive monologues expressing the increasing distress of the speakers, and showed that McCay's gift was in the visual and not the verbal.{{sfn|Taylor|2007|p=554}}

In his comics and animation McCay used stock ethnic stereotypes common in his era.{{sfnm|1a1=Shannon|1y=2010|1p=197|2a1=Canemaker|2y=2005|2pp=52–53}} A conscious attempt to offend is not apparent.{{sfn|Shannon|2010|p=200}} He depicted [[Black people|blacks]] as savages, or wishing they could be [[White people|white]].{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|pp=52–53}} Most prominent were a pair of characters in ''Little Nemo'': the ill-tempered Irishman Flip and the rarely speaking grass-skirted African Little Imp. In the animated ''Little Nemo'', the Anglo-Saxon Nemo is shown drawn in a dignified Art Nouveau style, and controls by magic the more grotesquely caricatured Flip and Imp.{{sfn|Winokur|2012|pp=58, 63}} Women were few in McCay's work, and were depicted as superficial, jealous, and argumentative; the Princess in ''Little Nemo'' never partook in the camaraderie the males shared.{{sfn|Canemaker|2005|p=46–47}}