Want to draw cartoons and create your own cartoon characters? Getting started is a matter of playing with shapes, fiddling around and fitting them together until you find something that makes your smile, even just a tiny bit.
When you start to draw cartoons, the sketchier your work is the better
Sketchiness leaves the maximum amount of space for your imagination to take over and start creating. Sketchy lines are full of possibility because your brain is always looking to make sense of anything chaotic, so it takes those possibilities and turns them into tall tales ?.
Try this exercise yourself:
Draw these shapes across the top of your page: circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval
Using the shapes as a visual prompt, being to draw sketchy characters using different shapes for the body parts. Don’t be constrained by reality: anything goes in Cartoonland, so people can have square and triangular-shaped heads and bodies without a problem.
If you want a less ‘flat’ look and you are feeling adventurous, use the 3D version of the shapes: sphere, square box, pyramid, rectangular box, egg.
Check out the video for examples and inspiration, and ask any questions you may have in the comments below.
For another pro tip, pay close attention to the tiny-bodied character in the middle — do you see that she has a cone shaped hat and a cone-shaped body? Repeating the same or similar shapes when you draw cartoons is a way of making them look more polished and put-tother… so keep that idea in the back of your mind as you get going.
Next Step?
If you are wondering how to keep doodling with your new whacky character, check out these two videos for ways to put it in scenes:
Placing Groundlines like a Pro