Did you know that Vincent Van Gogh traced? Yep, he developed one of his super-famous works — The Courtesan — after being intrigued by the image of a Japanese woman in a fashion magazine (above right) and tracing it to get the essentials firmly in his mind. So if...
How do you speed up cartooning? Of course you can use a physical timer but how else do you speed up cartooning, and still get a result that you are satisfied with? Because you want to draw a (decent) cartoon every day, but you have time constraints? What we...
Cartoon references — perhaps you relate to this question I received recently: "How do I reduce my reliance on references for cartooning?" (I'm not, even for a single second, knocking copying or the use of cartoon references. I use them, you use them, and...
Different cartooning styles... and developing your own. Hmm, I get so many questions about this, so here's a quick insight via a recent Q & A... Q: "Sometimes I hear about different cartooning styles. I know of manga, but there must be more different styles. For...
On Monday, I received the following cartoon outlines question... maybe you were asking this after last week's cartoon outlining post, too? A question ... in the broken-unbroken example, I'm wondering why the "unbroken" line picture has "broken lines" or isn't one...
Are you ready for a cartoon outlining journey round about now? Maybe this is your story — you have the basics of a character in place and you're thinking to yourself, "Hmm, I need some tips about outlining..." You likely have a few cartoon outlining questions, like...
When you draw cartoon facial expressions, it's not long before you get deep into subtle details and nuances. If you've been digging into that, here are a couple of 'advanced' observations that may help you. First up... Did you know that when you draw cartoon facial...
They weren’t much into cartoon expressions, but have you ever wondered what the Grand Masters used as references, back before cameras and fashion magazines where a thing? I suspect they did quick sketches wherever they went, which honed their drawing skills at the...
Finding the balance between ‘hard cartooning skills’ and creative imaginings So which one do you start with: cartooning skills, or imagination? If you can’t draw, you can’t cartoon.And if you can’t imagine, you can’t cartoon either. Ideally you want to work on...
It was a night to remember at our local theatre The red velvet curtains shimmied upwards to reveal a tiny figure clad in a grey mouse costume, skewered to the stage by the glare of the spotlight. The mouse's pink muzzle was a-tremble with terror and when a giant...