Astro Cow VS Breakfast-A-Tron

Cartooning with Ben Caldwell

Picked up Fantasy Cartooning by Ben Caldwell.  Been really enjoying his explanations as to WHY to draw things a certain way, not just how.  This is huge.  It's the difference between "start with an oval and add a jaw" and "Think about the character, and draw a head that suits based on that."  Plus he teaches you how to follow all the rules, and then how to break them as well. Below are some suggested exercises, straight from the book.

Mrs. Lovett

Sweeney

Been studying a lot of Ben Caldwell lately, and decided to do this homage to my new favourite movie of 2008.

Final Exam - Character Design

4 Hours from start to finish. Harder than I imagined to get a workable character design and to reproduce it.

Workers

Customer Service

Good Cop, Worse Cop.

Weary Waitress

I'm really having trouble finding and sticking to a so-called "signature style". I guess variablility is valuable, but I do wish I could more consistently do what I want to do and when. But hey, who doesn't? In Animation Preston Blair says that nobody gets so much as a skeleton right every time, so I guess I'm in good company. The purple cop of the right just isn't up to par with his partner's range of expression, though.

Lob and Barry

I saw a post on John K's blog about caricaturing cartoon characters, and then was inspired by a Veggie Tales CD we had lying around. Larry always was a bit of an idiot, and Bob does seem to have some anger issues.

Opera Fan

A lot of these sketches start off without any real direction, which has it's advantages and disadvantages. I like Mr. Opera Fan here, but I can't say he's what I was going for.

Rappa

Great exercise: Listening to talk radio and drawing the characters you hear. Rapper and then Angry Rapper.

Newfoundland

Street sketches from our trip to Newfoundland.

Cartoony Goodness

Doodles!

Who doesn't love doodles? I think there's a lot to be learned from our absent-minded scribblings. Some are great (imho), others are crap. But I've learned from each and every one! Keep an eye open for Yoda and a LOT of Nicky Gumble.

A quick sketch of the Family (aren't we so cute!)

Squash and stretch techniques




This is a self portrait, and I LOVE it. Specifically i love giving all my characters big ears, because it makes me feel better about myself.




This last one features some character designs for an animation I've been planning (specfically the lower right-hand side). Keep a head's up for that one.

More of Preston

Some Character designs

And some new colours that I did of Biker Dude, done back in Sept.

Serious Problems

My computer has been having some serious problems. Sorry all.

Exercises

Some fun stuff to come out of my Drawing class down at Red River College.

Not Yours

A quick self-portrait for the front of my class sketch book. (Did I mention that I've been taking a drawing tech class at the local college? Great practice) I had a lot of fun with this. Not only did I make myself super slim and trim, but I love the jump suit and the classic Looney Tunes era "way-too-conveniently-and-suddenly-present" wooden sign. Using gesture line to create a base to draw up from has become essential to me these days.

Found!

I found my lost sketch book! (and drew this to commemorate). I love the face--I think it was influenced by the copy of the Simpsons models sheets I was checking out. I hate the hands. Gotta practice.

Biker Dude

Now this guys was just fun to do. I combined the head construction with the facial expression and a little ol' fashioned rediculousness and came out with a Bad-Ass Hardcore tricyclist. Awesome.

Hands Again

Man, I feel like I ruin so many good drawings with bad hands!

Here's two drawings, one of me copying "famous" hands, and one trying to build my own based on form.
In case the print is illegible, the hands are (clockwise from top): Dexter from Dexter's Labratory, Johnny Bravo, Robin from Teen Titans, Pinky, and Tom (as in , And Jerry). I tried to take some hints from both the Preston book and from some online tutorials. Thank you YouTube.