Happy Firecracker Day

 

I hope everyone did their patriotic duty by blowing up all their old toys like we did when we were kids in the 60s.

More Grabs For Eddie

New Collections Of Doodle Sets - Preview

Here is a preview of my latest collectible sets of phone doodles - only for my beloved Kickstarter donors - this is just the tip of the mountain of goodies.

Treasures of Dizzy Doodles Collection

The Chipmunkians Package Of Hairy Delights

The Cream Of Hanna Barbera Creatures

Ren and Stimpy Classics Collection

The Liquor Family Of Social Outcasts Folio

These and a sh** load more are on their merry way.

Thanks!

Doodletime

Ernie Models To Print

 These have some general tips that can apply to all characters...see the labels for general construction of faces and how to use space and organic forms.

Some of these drawings may look anarchic but they still have to obey some general drawing principles in order to be effective.

One of the hardest concepts my artists have to learn is to make funny asymmetrical drawings - that still look like they are wrapped in flesh and stuffed with cartilage and teeth.

Many cartoonists have been conditioned to believe that construction consists of perfectly even, symmetrical circles and ovals - all arranged on a mathematical grid. So when they translate gutsy storyboard or animation drawings to layout or cleanups, they tend to even everything out and make the characters look like flat robots - or traced model sheets.

Hopefully these tips might help avoid that.

A REALLY IMPORTANT CONCEPT TO REMEMBER: 

CHEEKS, SMILE AND EYES 

ARE ALL CONNECTED FORMS!

Your mouth smiles because the cheek squeezes and pulls it up. When it moves up it also can effect the bottom of the eye shapes. Almost everyone seems to have trouble grasping this. There should be a whole course in this in animation schools I think.

 

http://johnkcurriculum.blogspot.com/

Inking Tips: UNDERSTAND the drawing before you ink it

Here's a swell pencil drawing of Ernie by Jim Smith. Jim is very good at suggesting form even with rough sketches. If the drawings aren't carefully cleaned up or inked, they can easily flatten out and lose their impact. So it's important to analyze a drawing before you start inking. The first thing is to note how the biggest forms are constructed and how they relate to each other in dimension and position.
It's also a very good practice to connect the cranium to the body with the neck - even when you don't see the neck because it is behind the chin.
A lot of artists have problems understanding the relation between the cheeks and the smile lines. the line at the top of a cheek and the line underneath that describes the smile are 2 borders of a piece of meat that you use to make expressions. They should look like they make a form that points to the nostril.
More to come...