Cartooning: How To Draw Cartoons
Author: Trevor Johnson

Cartoons are fun to read or watch. If you aspire to being the
next Walt Disney or even just want to draw something neat to
liven up your blog, here's how to learn to draw cartoons.

1. Choose your medium

Are you going for single cartoons, cartoons strips like the
Peanuts or are you getting ambitious and want to produce a full
scale movie? Each of these will affect how you start out. And if
you are just starting out, I'd suggest that you leave the movie
until later!

2. Decide on your main character

Are they human or animal? Think of the features they will have.
Quite often, cartoons exaggerate certain features and almost
ignore other ones. They aren't photographs, so they have much
more freedom to do this.

3. Start with a sketch

If you've ever seen a storyboard for a movie, you'll know that
it just shows a rough outline of what is going to happen rather
than full blown detail. If you're aiming to draw a cartoon
strip, it's good to plan out what will happen in each of the
three or four frames that will likely make up your final
cartoon.

4. Work on your main character
Don't worry about getting things perfect. It's far better to
draw something than to agonize over the exact positioning of
every line. Check out an early Mickey Mouse cartoon or even an
early episode of the Simpsons and compare them with more modern
versions. You'll see the characters have developed over the
years and, in the case of that famous mouse, are almost
unrecognizable when you look at the early and newer versions
side by side.

5. Add expression

A cheeky grin or some raised eyebrows go a long way to giving
your new creation some character. Unless your main character is
supposed to be completely expressionless and unmoving, it pays
to give them emotions. If they're angry or scared, you can
emphasize that in the next step.

6. Add color

Assuming you are going to display your cartoon on your website
or print it off on your color printer, add some color to your
drawing. This gives variety for people to look at and helps to
bring the cartoon to life. Again, we're not talking reality
here. So that purple dinosaur like the one in the Flintstonesis
fine!

7. Add shade

A few lines of shading go a long way in cartoons. Our minds
will fill in the blanks, so there's no need to draw every hair
on a hairy leg, just enough to give us some hints and let our
imagination join the dots. This is surprisingly effective and
will allow you to help your readers imaginations.

8. Add background

Like the shade, this doesn't need to be too detailed. An
outline of a pyramid shape if your cartoon is visiting Egypt
will do fine. There's no need to draw the complete Sphinx unless
your storyline calls for it.

9. Add your caption

Cartoon characters can speak - even animals normally. Will your
caption be in the form of a speech bubble or a line below the
cartoon?


About The Author: Learn more about how to draw cartoons and
start to develop your skill as a cartoonist at
http://www.squidoo.com/draw-cartoons