Aimed at beginner artists interested in cartooning and at the countless fans of cartoons, animation, and comics. Not only are cartoons a form of entertainment, but they''re an incredibly popular style of drawing! With a fresh and easy-to-follow approach to cartooning, Christopher Hart shows readers basic tips for creating a cast of the most hilarious, outrageous characters inspired by today''s cartoons. Chock-full of tips, hints, and step-by-step illustrations, Modern Cartooning gives artists of all ages the tools they need to let their imaginations run wild.
Trang 3Copyright © 2013 by Cartoon Craft LLCAll rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Watson-Guptill Publications, an imprintof the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., NewYork.
www.crownpublishing.comwww.watsonguptill.com
WATSON-GUPTILL and the WG and Horse designs are registeredtrademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataHart, Christopher
Trang 6The NoseProblemThe MouthThe Eyes andMouthWorkingTogetherMOVINGBEYONDTHE BASICHEADSHAPE
Small Changes—Big ResultsThe Classic Cartoon Head ShapeSculpting the Head Shape
Character Sketching
Trang 8Female Body: Teens through Adults
Basic Construction on a Real Finished Cartoon
PUTTING YOUR CHARACTERSTOGETHER
Can Never Have Enough ShoesFunny Stance
Merry Christmas to Me!
Enhancing an Existing Drawing
Trang 9The Line of Action
Stretching and Condensing the Body
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST: STUFF YOUWON’T LEARN IN ART SCHOOL
The Fine Points
Drawing the Characters in Their Own Scenes
Trang 12This is the first cartooning book specificallydesigned for the person who has neverdrawn cartoons before With carefullycrafted, clear step-by-step drawings and anamazing abundance of hints and tips, you’llgain the confidence and skill needed todraw cartoons the way you’ve alwayswanted to.
Trang 13discover new shapes I’ll show you how tomold the head into new and unique shapesto convey humorous and highly entertainingattitudes.
For this book, I created the “UniversalBody Shape.” I’ll also show you how to use abasic rectangle to create the foundation forjust about every type of character Howeasy is that?
You’ll learn all of these secrets and more.I’ll also show you how to take establishedart techniques and tweak them to createhumorous and often clueless cartoon
characters You’ll amaze your friends You’llcrush your enemies Hey, how many
Trang 16First, let’s examine the various theories ofcartooning from a contextual standpoint Justkidding! Let’s just start drawing instead!
Trang 17You can achieve these results by the creativeuse of a few simple head shapes, combinedwith the right types of facial features Butthere’s more to it than that My approach tocartooning stresses the construction of thehead shape (in this case, a circle) Head
shapes should remain conspicuous, even in
the final character design This techniquecauses the outline of the head to appear as aprimary feature of your cartoon character,like cartoon eyes or noses The basic headconstruction does not just serve as aguideline for the finished drawing; itbecomes a caricature of a “regular” head.
It used to be that the initial foundation ofthe head was there to simply get the
Trang 18Many cartoonists start cartoons with acircle, but then modify it at their firstopportunity Why? The circle is a pleasingshape Roundness is an appealing elementin many character designs But the
simplicity of the circle can also become aliability The circle is such a common shapethat it does not always command the
viewer’s attention.
But you can create excitement for yourcircle-based characters by making them sosimplistic and round that they look
Trang 19start with a perfect circle! A sloppy hand-drawn circle is fine You won’t get a badgrade for not doing everything perfectly Atleast, not a really bad grade.
Trang 20MISCHIEVOUS KID
Here’s a cute kid with mpd (mischievouspersonality disorder) Please don’t leave anyweapons-grade nuclear material near him—just to be extra cautious You don’t want toknow what almost happened last timesomeone forgot to put away the plutonium.
Trang 21Divide the head in half with the center line.
Trang 28stand out, and to give him a flat look.
Trang 29YOUNG TEENAGER
Youngsters of around twelve to fourteenmake particularly popular cartoon
Trang 39SWEET SIXTEEN
This character can be a girl by day and asuperspy at night All pretty teens incartoons are capable of fantastic
adventures But whether or not her hobby iscracking the codes of foreign governments,the secret of her charm lies in her cute butcapable appearance, her leadership
abilities, and her meltdowns when her crushfails to notice her.
Trang 46THE CIRCLE ATDIFFERENTANGLES
Trang 47ROUND-HEAD ADULT
You don’t usually see adult cartooncharacters whose faces are completelyround But when you do, they often appearto be somewhat roly-poly That’s becauseolder characters based on real people haveeyes set high on their heads, which makeseverything below the eyes appear to bemade up of cheek fat and giant jowls.
Beards and facial hair on older adults areusually trim and neat Note that the mouthis effectively hidden underneath the
mustache—a cute device And remember thisimmutable axiom—I call it the Law of
Trang 54EYEBROW VARIATION
Trang 55NECK LENGTH ANDCHARACTER AGE
Trang 59Up until this point, I’ve focused on showing youhow to draw the outline of the face Now, let’sturn to the features, where the real fun
starts…!
There are many types of features: eyes,noses, and mouths And there are specifictypes of each, such as glamorous eyes or amouth with a goofy underbite.
Trang 60eyes, nose, and mouth And they’re correct.There’s no right or wrong way to drawanything But some ways not only lookbetter, they are also more visually
Trang 61There is a wide and popular range of eyeshapes to choose from You can also mixand match them to create your own combos.As you’ll see, some eyes are a better fit forsome characters than for others This doesn’tmean you can’t add one eye type to a
character that usually takes a different eyetype But if you do, be bold Have funcreating something unexpected.
Trang 62POPULAR EYE SHAPES
CIRCLE
This is the most common eye shape It canbe used for almost any character.
TALL OVAL
Trang 63FLATTENED OVAL
Cartoonists often use this shape for drollcharacters, sarcastic characters, or
Trang 64SEVERE
A large, horizontal oval, cut in half by asharp eyelid, creates a funny, intense look.
ALMOND
Trang 66PRACTICAL APPLICATION
By adding the rest of the features to theeyes, you can see what a big impact theeyes have They totally outshine the mouth—unless the mouth is used to create anextreme expression You can tell what a
character is thinking by his eyes Eyebrows
are not just an afterthought They are theexclamation point that drives home theexpression From here, you’ll work with aset of two eyes rather than detailing theshape of a single eye (Don’t worry aboutdrawing the mouth yet, it’s just here to helpto clarify the concept I’ll cover mouths in afew pages.)
Trang 67Perhaps, they’re the most important
developments about anything ever, right upthere with the development of antibioticsand spray cheese in a can!
CIRCLE (MALE)
Trang 68SEVERE OVAL (MALE)
FLATTENED OVAL (MALE)
Trang 69CIRCLE (FEMALE)
TALL OVAL (FEMALE)
Trang 70FLATTENED OVAL (FEMALE)
Trang 71SPECIAL TIPS
THE TYPE OF EYE YOU DRAW (THAT IS, GENDER,AGE, OR EXPRESSION) IS NOT NEARLY AS
IMPORTANT TO THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS OF THEDRAWING AS THE FOLLOWING FOUR
GUIDELINES ON YOUR “I SHOULD REMEMBERTHIS WHEN I’M TRYING TO DRAW CARTOONEYES” LIST WITH THESE IN MIND, YOU CANMOLD THE EYES INTO ANY SHAPE ANDEXPRESSION YOU WANT.
1.Tilt: Both eyes need to tilt at the same angle (women’s eyes,especially, tend to tilt up at the ends).
2.Shape and Symmetry: The shape of both eyes needs to be thesame, unless an expression is forcing one eye into a differentposition.
Trang 72don’t appear to be lopsided! This is actually a fairly common problemamong aspiring cartoonists—and so easy to solve Simply begin yoursketch by drawing a light eye line in your initial construction of thecartoon head (This is why I include eye lines in all the step-by-stepconstructions.)
Trang 73NORMAL-DOTPUPILSSurround teeny dotswith an ocean ofwhite for funny-looking pupils.THE PUPILS
Trang 74WANDERING-DOTPUPILS
Make the pupilsdiverge slightly, butnot too much, for ahumorous effect.ENLARGED PUPILSPupils enlarge toshow happiness,satisfaction, or joy.In fact, this is abiological reflex andscientificallyaccurate Forcartooning, increasethis effect so that the
Trang 75SUPER-DUPERGIANT PUPILS
Trang 76ADULT MEN AND DAD EYES
Trang 77that’s okay—if the character is sad.
Trang 80ATTRACTIVE FEMALE EYES
What’s the deal with the
deer-in-the-headlights look? Well, that’s what you get ifyou draw heavily made-up female eyes.
Here’s how to adjust the eyes so that theylook appealing, even harmlessly seductive.Lower the top eyelid on the pupil, cutting itoff at the top This will also cause the
overall shape of the eyes to narrow andbecome more severe.
Trang 82CLOSED EYES
It may surprise you to learn that closed eyesare among the most frequently drawn eyepositions in cartoons They add variety andpacing, and simply look funny And the bestthing of all: They’re a breeze to draw I’vealmost been able to teach Rusty, my evilWelsh springer spaniel, how to draw them.And I believe he could do it, too, but thewhole “lack of thumbs” stuff gets in his way.
Trang 84CLOSED EYES“DOWN”—CONFIDENT
Trang 85SNOBBY
Trang 86ANGER
Trang 87Here’s a common problem for cartoonists:You want to draw your character in a frontview, but you designed him with a nose thatpoints in one direction In the front
position, the nose faces directly forward,not left or right This flattens the nose Butyou’ve created a character with a pointynose, which simply looks wrong in the frontview By drawing the nose in the front view,in real perspective, you may end up with anaccurate picture, but it won’t be fun.
Trang 88going to teach you how to do it.
Here’s the solution: Cheat Yes, you read
Trang 89FRONT VIEW—NOSE POINTSFRONT
This method flattensout the nose But itisn’t appealing andchanges the look ofthe character.
FRONT VIEW—NOSE POINTS LEFT
Trang 91What, exactly, is a “mouth,” from a
cartoonist’s point of view? Is it a frown? Ora laugh? The truth is that there is no singlemouth position to learn how to draw.Instead, there are many mouth positions.And the only way to learn how to drawthem is … to draw them!
Trang 92WIDE SMILE
The smile rises up, almost to theeye.
Trang 93PUSHED-OUT POUT
Overlap the top lip here.
OPEN-MOUTH ANGER
In this configuration, the top andbottom lips are uneven.
OPEN-MOUTH SMILE
Trang 94more intense the laughter looks.
PEEVED
Push up on the lower eyelids, butonly on one of them.
BIG-JAW SMILE
Trang 95expressing supreme confidence.
ABOUT TO CRY
Note how the line above theupper lip lengthens threefold.
SUBTLE SMILE
Trang 96tightly.
BOTTOM TEETH ONLY
Note how the bottom lip dragsthe mouth way down at the end.
DETERMINED ANGER
Trang 99HUMOROUS MOUTHPOSITIONS: SIDE VIEW
Using your imagination to devise new andfresh mouth types is a great way to enhancethe entertainment value of your characterand keep yourself from dying of boredom atfamily reunions But there’s an easier wayto go about it.
Before attempting all of the mouthpositions, randomly try the basic fourbelow These will help ease you into themore advanced mouth positions on thefollowing page.
Trang 100INSECURE
Use this position for a typicallook, stare, or reaction.
CONFIDENT
Trang 102BIG STRETCH—SHOCKED
Stretch the edge of the profilealong a curved line.
LITTLE STRETCH—SNEAKY
Trang 103BIG CRUNCH
Here you can see insane anger.Everything clamps down towardthe nose.
LITTLE CRUNCH
This variation demonstrates
Trang 104impatience combined withannoyance I used to see this lookall the time on my dad’s face.
BIG WARPING
The profile is drawn on adiagonal.
Trang 105LITTLE WARPING
Trang 106CLASSICVERSION
Both lips curveupward, with thebottom lip thethickest of thetwo.
FEMALE LIPS
Trang 107BOTOXVERSION
The top lipoverlaps thebottom one, andthe smile occurson one side only.
VARIATION
Trang 108FEMALE SMILE
We usually think of smiles as rising upwardon the face But oh the price we pay for theassumptions we make! On pretty femininecharacters, the top lip is horizontal andeven curves slightly downward I can hearyour gasps: “I’ve been … wrong all thistime But I was so sure … What else have Ibeen wrong about?” Probably a lot But let’snot get off track.
Trang 112LIPS HINT
IT’S OFTEN FUNNIER IF YOU TAKE A“NORMAL” MOUTH POSITION, LIKE THISDOWNTURNED ONE, AND INSTEAD PRESSTHE LIPS TOGETHER AND PULL THEM TOONE SIDE.
Trang 114Whether eyes or mouths are most effectivein creating an expression is something thatmay remain a mystery forever, like thepyramids and when a magician pours waterinto a rolled-up newspaper Most effectiveof all is when the eyes and mouth worktogether in a cartoon It’s like that famoussaying: The eyes may be the windows to thesoul, but the mouth is the doorway to thestomach Or something like that.
Trang 115TREMBLING
HAPPY
the face.
Trang 116WICKEDLAUGHING
Trang 119To develop a variety of cartoon characters forany reason—whether it is to create a portfolio,a graphic novel, webcomics, or animation—youwill need to be able to show a variety of
Trang 120Right answer: Move past the basic circle andinclude other head shapes A circle is a greatfoundation shape, but it can also be
Trang 121Let’s establish a circle-based head, and thenshow what happens when you tweak theshape All shapes are pliable in cartoons.Adjust the shape of the head, and in theprocess, you can create very different looksfor this character This character is
Trang 124Draw the outer shell of the hair before working in interiors(such as the bangs that flop over the forehead).
Trang 125Give her a ridiculously thin neck…
Trang 127NARROWING THE JAW
You can modify the circle so that it issleeker or fatter Let’s studiously examineeach approach.
Trang 129THE EGG-SHAPED HEAD
Trang 139THIN FACES
In cartooning, every shape can be adaptedto create a new character This elongatedegg shape works best on teens and youngadults because the face tends to thin out as aperson ages It also hooks up well to a
Trang 141The section from the eyes to the top of the headrepresents the other half of the head.
Trang 144Always extend eyeglass frames past the outline of thehead—unless they are small nerdy glasses.
Trang 147This, my friends, is the mother of all cartoonhead shapes This is the Big Kahuna, thedemigod that rules over everything that isart—except for cubism What the heck iswith that stuff anyway?
This popular head shape has been aroundsince the dawn of cartooning and evenbefore In fact, if you look through cavepaintings, you’ll actually see that Cro-Magnon man represented himself in artwith roughly this type of head shape Inperhaps the most well-known image, Cro-Magnon man is seen getting a sudden burstof inspiration with a very primitive
Trang 149CUTE BOY
This is quite simply the most versatilecartoon head shape of them all Don’tbelieve me? Just look at this example!
Trang 156CUTE GIRL
The chin is tapered on the female characterin this classic cartoon construction Manyaspiring cartoonists believe that in order todraw cartoon girls, they must treat thecharacter with only subtle and soft curves.Well, this isn’t true I don’t know who hasbeen filling your head with these lies, but ifI ever catch that guy, why I’ll … I’ll…
Sorry, it’s just that I get so passionateabout cartooning.
Trang 157Flatten out the top of the head.
Trang 161For a happy character, use stiff eyelashes rather thanflexible or feathery ones.
Trang 164GIANT FOREHEADS
Trang 168Cover a bit of the chin with a turtleneck.
Notice how the arms of the eyeglass frames don’t even
touch the ears Why even use them? Because they’re
Trang 171would add too much volume Note how the hair is drawn within the