How to Draw a Cartoon:
drawingnow.com
Learn to draw a collections of different characters
cartooncritters.com
Learn how to draw different cartoon characters
videojug.com
Cartoon man
Cartoon dog
youtube.com
Tree
aivault.com
Duck
garyharbo.com
More specific Characters
howstuffworks.com
Any cartoon character
eyesontutorials.com
Draw a cartoon using Photoshop
HOW TO DRAW A CARTOON
Some good tips on how to draw a cartoon. Cartooning is not about drawing, it is about telling stories. Yes, even when you are drawing a single illustration you are telling a story. Cartooning is about expressing your thoughts. And it is your thoughts expressed beautifully through your cartoon characters that make you different from other average cartoon makers. But, as in every other field of life here also you must learn to walk first before you try running.
To express your thoughts and ideas through your cartoon characters, you need to master the skill of cartoon drawing first and only then can you use your cartoon drawing skills to tell the story to your liking.
To be skilled in cartoon drawing you have to face a learning curve. You just can’t decide to be a cartoonist then copy some popular cartoon characters and become an accomplished cartoonist who is rich and famous. If you are lucky and talented, with a keen sense of observation you may pickup one or two tricks by duplicating a popular cartoon figure. But that is too inadequate to be of any use.
There are various ways that you can learn how to draw a cartoon - you can join cartooning school or take a home study course or follow a cartoon book of an expert cartoonist - the bottom line is you have to follow the steps. For example, you should first teach yourself drawing 3d shapes, then learn to stretch, squash those 3d shapes in your drawing. Next you need to practice things like drawing hands, feet and a head before moving on to motion and emotion and advanced things like that.
If it sounds like a lot of work, you are right. But what you achieve at the end is worth working for. If you are smart however you can use the tips you are going to discover here to make the whole learning process fast and painless.
If you have a touch of artistic talent and a gallon of patience, you can learn how to draw cartoon characters like the big guys do. Following the steps outlined below will help you to gain confidence and to progress your art.
TIP #1 – Emulate
As you start out, copy what's out there. There’s amazing art from so many different fields. What you want to do is to hold a picture of a character and try to duplicate it. Seem like you're not developing a style of your own? That's OK, because as you work on recreating the work of other artists you will discover what you enjoy and what you are good at. This is also good practical experience as much of your work will be the multiple reproductions of a scene with minor "movement" changes.TIP #2 – Dissect the Work
Many pictures are overwhelming when taken as a whole. Break each character down to basic shapes, rectangles, triangles, ovals, etc. This will assist you in where to start your picture. Remember according to Matt Groening, Homer is just an upside down light bulb with arms and legs. Go ahead Google a picture of Homer and you'll see it there.TIP #3 – Detailed is not Better
Have you ever seen South Park? That show started out with construction paper cut-outs, yet it spawned a huge following. The reason - it was unique. When you are developing your style, do not become overly worried about making life-like paintings, cartoons have to be able to move and that means the same picture redrawn a thousand times. The KISS rule applies when creating animation – Keep It Simple, Stupid.TIP #4 – Technology is Your Friend
A computer won't make you a better artist, but it can help you to produce more work. Take for example a painstakingly drawn scene of your hero doing battle with the villain. If you learn how to use graphic artist tools and programs, you can make the computer manipulate the picture in many ways to save time.Good luck in your new adventure of how to draw a cartoon!
Learn how to draw a cartoon, step by step, by going to any of the following sites. It's simple, easy and a lots of fun!
Learn to draw various cartoon characters:www.drawingnow.com/how-to-draw-cartoons.html |
| This site is full of free online tutorials that will show you how to draw a cartoon of everyone from SpongeBob to Snoopy, and Daffy Duck to Dora The Explorer. The step-by-step lessons are easy to follow, and shows you how to sketch, draw, and then color your way to the completed work. Each given stage will proceed only whenever you press play, so following the lesson will be no problem! |
Learn to draw different cartoon characters:www.cartooncritters.com/learntodrawlist.htm |
| Drawing lessons for kids of all ages. Learn how to draw any cartoon you can think of. It's really worth checking this site out. |
Learn to draw a cartoon man:www.videojug.com/film/how-to-draw-a-cartoon-man |
Learn to draw a cartoon dog:www.videojug.com/film/how-to-draw-a-cartoon-dog |
| VideoJug has these great new videos of how-to-draw a man, dog, mouse, monkey, frog, car, cat, king, boat, horse, pirate, lion, bird, house, palace, queen. |
Learn to draw a cartoon tree: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7q7ZIxPAaFA |
| You can learn how to draw a cartoon tree from youtube.com |
Learn to draw a cartoon duck: www.aivault.com/?p=913 |
| Learn how to draw a cartoon duck using computer software. This tutorial will take you through basic shapes, using basic tools for example, pathfinder , knife and eyedropper tools to create a cute duck character. Following this tutorial you can draw a step by step illustrated vector tutorial file which will help you to actually look at how it is done! it is as simple as that! |
Learn to draw specific cartoon characters: www.garyharbo.com/activity.html |
| Gary Harbo is a cartoonist who adds his own flavor to his cartoons. Learn how to draw a cartoon the way Gary would! |
Learn to draw any cartoon: home.howstuffworks.com/how-to-draw-cartoons.htm |
| Learn simple step by step on how to draw the most complicated cartoons, the easy way with the HowStuffWorks site. |
Learn to draw a cartoon character using PhotoShop www.eyesontutorials.com/articles/287/1/How-to-draw-cartoon-character/Page1.html |
| Learn how to draw a cartoon character using Photoshop for example for a video game. |
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TIP #1
Don't start with computers.
How else would you learn the basics.
For beginners, there is no
other alternative than to start with paper and pencil. There are different software
that helps you draw a cartoon, that you can go
ahead even without learning how to draw a smooth line.
This kind of over-dependency on computers from the very beginning always backfires down the road.
TIP #2
Remember the fact that the construction of humans, animals, cars and most of the
things that we see around us, are complex 3d structures, even though we draw
them on paper, which is 2D.
So when drawing, you must mentally analyze your model
in terms of 3d shapes like spheres and boxes and not in terms of 2d shapes like
circles and rectangles.
Also, when you draw something on paper (for example 2D),
look for and find out the 3d shapes that make up the
character.
TIP #3
Most of the cartoon drawing or figure drawing tutorials always start with some
basic 3d shapes and, after a number of steps, end up in a complete and beautiful
figure.
This technique is very effective in learning how to draw
complex cartoons starting with simple basic shapes.
TIP #4
The following tip will make your pace of learning even faster.
It is, in fact, a
very simple way of using the same tutorial on any “how to draw a
cartoon”, it’s just a lot more effective.
What you need to do, is to
start where the tutorial ends, and go backward from there.
See the completed
figure and try to recognize the ingredient basic shapes. And compare your
analysis with the exact shapes that are used in the tutorial.
This will give you
a very thorough exercise in recognizing the basic shapes. And after some time
you will be analyzing the real life around you like an expert.
Just take your
time and practice this technique, and see how fast it will improve your skill in
cartoon drawing.
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