My Top 4 Cartoon Drawing Tips

I have spent many years and many hours of my life drawing cartoons. Over the years, I've picked up a few handy tips that can help anyone at whatever stage you are.

Simplify Everything

The KISS principle should always be applied here (Keep It Simple Stupid). In the past I spent hours trying to capture the endless details on an illustration. The thing I didn't realise until much later was the fact that this wasn't adding that much extra to my work. I'd spend hours capturing the detail on muscle sinew but now I prefer to keep the lines, shapes and shadows much simpler.

I try to remember that I'm drawing a cartoon not giving an anatomy lesson. Also, Keep your details simple. You don't have to draw every strand of hair or wrinkle on a persons head. I've seen people add lots of detail to a drawing that lacked a quality basic shape. Finally, keep your shading simple. Think of your shadows as one flat tone shape. You can always add in highlights and half lights later if you think it needs it.

Draw Through Objects No, I'm not referring to some kind of super power that allows you to pass through solid matter. I'm talking about drawing underlying guidelines and shapes to establish the overall form of an object or person. Even though you don't see bones and muscles on every person, they are there.

Think of it like building a house. You don't build the roof and then the walls. You build the frame, then add all the exterior details. Think of your sketch as the blueprint for the final illustration. Although you're probably going to simplify things for a cartoon, having an anatomy book as reference is a good idea.

Exaggerated Lie

When you were a kid, your mum probably told you not to lie. Well thats one way to look at it but maybe you should consider this quote from Picasso which says "Art is a lie that tells the truth". The drawing or illustration you produce is merely a representation of reality and cartoons are an exaggeration of reality.

Cartoon characters having three fingers is a good example. I had a client ask me why my characters only had three fingers and I said it just looked better. Think about what elements should be exaggerated to have your drawing make more sense. What things aren't important or should be down played. Sometimes a little lie isn't so bad.

Redraw

The aim is not to get to perfection on the first go. Redraw things and move stuff around. This will give you a better idea of the drawing or composition. In my eyes, illustrators are in fact professional tracers because of the number of times you redraw, tweak and trace. Break your drawing down into little pieces and do those parts separately before you bring everything together. You can take these smaller tracings and when you are happy, trace them onto the main sketch. Using a light table will really help you to achieve this.

Comments? Questions? Email Here

© HowtoAdvice.com

How to Advice .com