With a little outside help, says veteran cartoonist Roy Paul Nelson, anyone with an interest in art can learn to draw humorous sketches. He proves it in this accessible guide to cartooning, offering beginners and professionals a complete manual for working in one of the world's liveliest art forms. Briefly tracing the origins of cartooning, Nelson goes on to furnish tips for using proper tools and techniques; drawing the human figure, animals, and backgrounds; composing; doing gag cartoons, comic strips, and panels; creating editorial and advertising cartoons; and much more. Accompanying the easy-to-follow directions are seventy-five illustrations, including many of the author's own. Designed especially for novices, this concise, readable guide will also serve as a refresher course for seasoned artists.
In The Little Book of Cartooning & Illustration, beginning cartoonists, animators, and illustrators will discover key concepts associated with learning the art of traditional cartooning and animation. With this guide, dozens of tips from the pros will help you find the materials and tools you need to develop your own unique style. A combination of creative step-by-step projects and open practice areas offer encouragement and invite participation for those artists who want to put their newfound skills to immediate use. You'll learn all the cartooning and animation tricks of the trade, including: The squash and stretch principle Exaggerating details Rendering faces and expressions Anthropomorphizing inanimate objects Creating original characters Mastering body shapes and movement Writing gags and jokes With so many tools at your disposal, why wait any longer to start animating? Get started, get drawing! The Little Book of ... series focuses on delivering fun, approachable, and interesting art instruction in a fresh, portable format. With its contemporary design, open practice pages, creative exercises, and prompts that encourage interactivity, beginning artists learn the fundamentals of their craft, often with immediate results.
The must-have guide for all artists who draw the human figure!
In Morpho: Hands and Feet, artist and teacher Michel Lauricella presents a unique approach to learning to draw the human body. In this book, Lauricella focuses exclusively on the hands and feet—arguably the most popular and, for many, the most challenging parts of the body to draw successfully. Breaking the subject matter down into the underlying skeletal shapes, followed by the musculature, then the skin and fat, and finally, the veins, Lauricella offers multiple approaches—from simple forms to complex renderings—and a plethora of positions and gestures are included to help you improve your drawing skills.
Geared toward artists of all levels, from beginners through professionals, this handy, pocket-sized book will help spark your imagination and creativity. Whether your interest is in figure drawing, fine arts, fashion design, game design, or creating comic book or manga art, you will find this helpful book filled with actionable insights.
(Publisher's Note: This book features an “exposed” binding style. This is intentional as it is designed to help the book lay flat as you draw.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword Introduction Hands Feet Resources
Learn the Tricks of the Trade for Drawing Irresistibly Cute Manga-Style Animals and Chibis! The world of manga is filled with strange creatures and adorable sidekicks. Just about every manga hero and heroine has an animal mascot, and all the most popular ones have a cute "chibi" form. This book teaches aspiring manga artists how to create the funny critters that populate girls' manga and the more gritty, gothic creatures found in boys' manga. It starts with the basics of creating manga-style characters—everything from drawing heads and faces to eyes and expressions, to creating incredibly cute chibis. Part two features a valuable reference section on the mythological and real animals that have shaped Japanese artwork and stories. The final section has step-by-step demonstrations on using computer programs such as Photoshop and Corel Painter to create manga art and comics. So whether you're just starting out and want to draw a cute, simple mascot, or would like to try something more complex like an Asian dragon, or are ready to create your own otherworldly adventure, this book has something for you no matter what your skill level.
This classic guide by a master animator and cartoonist — and long time Disney artist — is now available for the first time since its original publication in 1946. Author Ken Hultgren instructs by example in a guide that's suitable for beginners and advanced students alike. The comprehensive range of instruction covers features and expressions, animals, foreshortening, perspective, lettering, caricature, animation, and various other aspects of cartooning. All subjects include step-by-step guides, several examples, and helpful hints and suggestions. Blank pages allow lots of room for drawing practice. Professional and amateur animators, cartoonists, caricaturists, and artists dealing with characterization will find this timeless manual an excellent and instructive companion.
From Snow White to Shrek, from Fred Flintstone to SpongeBob SquarePants, the design of a character conveys personality before a single word of dialogue is spoken. Designing Characters with Personality shows artists how to create a distinctive character, then place that character in context within a script, establish hierarchy, and maximize the impact of pose and expression. Practical exercises help readers put everything together to make their new characters sparkle. Lessons from the author, who designed the dragon Mushu (voiced by Eddie Murphy) in Disney's Mulan—plus big-name experts in film, TV, video games, and graphic novels—make a complex subject accessible to every artist.