Cartooning: The Ultimate Character Design Book

f CH.CARTOON JACKET.FINAL.

12/4/07

3:18 PM

Page 1

Chris Hart Books

Cartoonist extraordinaire Chris Hart shares his best secrets for creating unforgettable characters.

Showing Eye Expressions

HAPPY ANTICIPATION Character looks sideways out of corners of eyes. Eyebrows arch up

Chris Hart takes you neighborhood by neighborhood to check out all the cleverest cartoon character types in their natural habitats. Following Chris's detailed step-by-step tutorials, learn to draw the classic cartoon family, goofy suburbanites, the super-rich inhabitants of Rodeo Drive and all the funniest urban eccentrics. Learn to use body language, gesture, costume and action lines to create weird and wacky cartoon characters.

EVIL Lower eyelids rise toward upper eyelids

ANGRY In a profile, the eyebrow touches the eyeball and tilts up slightly

nside I e r Mo MuchLearn Chris Hart's favorite

drawing tips and techniques, and create your own zany cartoon characters

CHRIS HART is the world's best-selling

author of how-to-draw books.

Chris Hart

Books

The Ultimate Character Design Book

You have to understand how eyes work in concert with a character's other features. For our model, I've chosen our mischievous 12-yearold pal, whom I'll call Brandon.

Where do cartoonists find their character inspiration?

By looking at the people around them!

Cartooning

Here’s a sample

Chris Hart

Cartooning The Ultimate character Design Book

$19.95 US

$23.95 CANADA

Cartooning

TheUltimate Character Design Book Learn the basics of character design: cool head shapes, drawing from different angles, creating expressive eyes and other fun features.

Then use your skills to design your own favorite wacky characters.

Learn to

draw quirky cartoon

characters from the master Cartoonist

Chris Hart

Cartooning

The Ultimate Design

Character book Chris Hart Books

Chris Hart Books 233 Spring Street New York, NY 10013 Editorial Director ELAINE SILVERSTEIN

Book Division Manager ERICA SMITH

r making o f s e id n in nk Art Jo lso, Trisha a h t o t e ik I'd l possible. A ein and many other k o o b is h t e Silverst in a l E , m l Malco ated to ic d e d l l t a a people g, who are nearly enough in h is l b u P Soho ere aren't h t t a h t f the belie

Senior Editor MICHELLE BREDESON

a c s e c n a r F r Fo

Art Director DIANE LAMPHRON

Associate Art Director SHEENA T. PAUL

Copy Editor KRISTINA SIGLER

Book Editor DANIEL FINGEROFF

Color ROMULO FAJARDO, JR. President ART JOINNIDES

Vice President, Publisher TRISHA MALCOLM

Production Manager DAVID JOINNIDES Creative Director JOE VIOR

Copyright © 2008 by Starfire, LLC All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or information storage-and-retrieval systems – without written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2007907249 ISBN 1-933027-42-8 Manufactured in China 13579108642 First Edition

f ooks.com chrishartb

CONTENTS

DRAWING THE HEAD 16 HEAD SHAPES AND CLASSIC CHARACTER TYPES 16 Big buddy 16 Middle-aged guy 17 Goofy kid 17 Mr. Gloom 18 The athlete 18 Stylish gal 19

DRAWING THE HEAD FROM DIFFERENT ANGLES 20 Simplifying head construction 20 The outline of the face 21

INTRODUCTION 7

THE CHARACTER DEsign Lab

The amazing pencil 8 Cartoon shading techniques 9 Many shades from a single pencil 9 Types of lines 9 THE LANGUAGE OF CHARACTER DESIGN 10 The four classic head styles 10 Tiny tyrants 11 Teens & tweens 12 Cartoon women 14 Cartoon men 15

DRAWING EXPRESSIVE EYES 22 The three basic eye shapes 22 Making good expressions even better 22

DRAWING EXPRESSIONS 24 Sly expression 24 Eye expressions 25 NOSES 26 The typical male nose 27 Drawing the nostril 27 The typical female nose 27

MOUTHS 28 Drawing female lips 28 Drawing mouth expressions 29 More female mouth expressions 30 Extreme mouth movement 31 Attaching the upper lip to the nose 32 Profile of upper lip 32 Pulling and squashing the mouth 33 Basic elements of the facial line 33 Undercover action hero 34 Edgy mouth expressions 35 HAIRSTYLES 36 Classic female hairdos 36

Classic male hairstyles 37

DRAWING BODIES 38 Important hints 38 BASIC SHAPES 39 THE SIDE VIEW 40 BASIC PROPORTIONS 42 HANDS 44 Male hands 44 Female hands 44 Fingers and thumbs 45 Hand gestures 46 FOOTWEAR 47 Men's styles 47 Women's styles 47

ACTION AND BODY DYNAMICS 48

BALANCE AND COUNTERBALANCE 48 Weight distribution 48 Up and down 48 Action-reaction 48 Double-direction poses 49 PROFILES 50 COILING AND COMPRESSION 51 STRETCHING AND THINNING 52 POINTS OF EMPHASIS 53 POSTURE AND PERSONALITY 54 LEVITATION 55

5

CONTENTS

The Cast of BIG-CITY Characters 80 Characters

QUIRKY CHARACTERS OF THE SUBURBs 56

Coach Dad 58 All-American Soccer Mom 59 Grumpy Guy 60 The Turbo-Gardener 61 Guy from the Witness Protection Program 62 Diner Waitress 63 Mysterious Neighbor 64 School Psychologist 65 The Neighborhood Dog Target 66 Pizza Delivery Guy 67 The World's Most Dangerous Yellow Belt 68 The Bully 70 Hyperactive Student 71 Clueless Hunter 72 Kid Genius 73 Computer Nerd 74 The Spy Next Door 75 The Know-It-All 76 Phony Pal 77 Goth Girl 78 Suburban Pet: The Beagle 79 6

FUNNY HOLLYWOOD CHARACTERS 116

Doorman 82 Hot Dog Vendor 83 Crazy Cabbie 84 Corporate Mom 85 The Straphanger 86 Seventh Avenue Fashion Model 88 Downtown Artist 89 Do-Rag Guy 90 The Latte Fiend 91 The Dog Walker 92 Metro Pup 93 Big-Time Music Producer 94 Sewer Worker 95 Street Merchant 96 New York Guard Dog 97

Movie Producer 118 The Producer's Wife 119 Personal Manager to the Stars 120 Kid Agent 121 Pampered Star 122 Interior Decorator 124 Police Dude 125 Rodeo Drive Shopper 126 Pool Boy 128 Child Star 130 Precious Hollywood Pooch 131

SUPER-RICH CHARACTERS 98

Rich Witch 100 Rich Dad 102 Spoiled Teen Girl 103 The Prep School Brat 104 The Little Angel 105 Master of the Universe, Junior Edition 106 Spoiled Baby Sister 107 Tennis Poser 108 English Country Rider 110 Butlers 112 The Hunting Dog 115

INTRODUCTION

great cartoon characters don’t just happen.

They are carefully designed to fit specific types-the bratty sibling, the ditsy suburbanite, the evil spy. Readers instantly recognize these types because cartoonists combines specific, well-known physical attributes to create them.

How do we come up with the inspiration for great characters? It's a well-guarded secret, but I'm going to break the Cartoonist's Code of Silence and reveal it to you. We look for inspiration to the weird and wacky neighborhoods where all of the quirky characters already exist.

Goofy neighborhoods just ooze great characters. And each neighborhood is unique: a fast-talking city character walks and dresses a lot differently than one from the sticks. What about the prep-school kid from Connecticut who meets his cousin from Brooklyn for the first time? You can see the comic scenes start to play out in your mind, can't you? And don't forget that mother of all cartoon neighborhoods: the suburb.

This book covers all these recognizable types, plus a lot more. I've designed it to be helpful to beginners who want to learn the most current style of cartooning. But it's also a wonderful resource for experienced artists who enjoy developing new and original characters.

The first half of this book takes you through the basics of cartooning with a emphasis on character design, so you start out learning to draw eye-catching characters. The second half shows you specific character types and demonstrates precisely how to create them. We'll go neighborhood-byneighborhood to find all of today's most popular cartoon character types: from suburbanites to big city dwellers, from the country-club blue-blood set to the glitterati of Hollywood and Beverly Hills.

Character design is a skill you can learn quickly. However, you need character-driven instruction to do it. In this book you'll get extensively illustrated clues and pointers specifically targeted to show you exactly how to create character types. The style we'll focus on is ultra-current and on-target for today's cartoonist-which is what you are. So pick up a pencil and hop on board!

7

The Character Design Lab

f Before we go headlong into creating all the different types of cartoon characters based on different neighborhoods, locations and occupations, let's take a look at some character-driven cartooning basics.

THE AMAZING PENCIL

Take a moment to look over the most versatile art instrument you'll ever use: the pencil. It can create many shades of darkness and many types of lines in a variety of thicknesses—and we're going to end up using all of them in this book.

A trip to your local art supply store will show you that there are many types of pencils with all sorts of letters and numbers on them. But the type cartoonists most often use is the HB, which is the same as the ordinary #2 pencil that you probably have lying around the house. And now, let's see what the not-so-humble pencil has to offer.

8

THE CHARACTER DESIGN LAB

CARTOON SHADING TECHNIQUES

Here are some of the more popular methods cartoonists use to indicate shadow, or dark patches, on people and things.

BLOCKED OUT Press down hard, you're going for dark shadows

SLIGHTLY STREAKED Just a touch of shadow

TOTAL CROSS-HATCHING An older technique, used infrequently

MANY SHADES FROM A SINGLE PENCIL

By simply pressing harder or lighter on your pencil, you can get a wide variety of shades.

White Light Gray

DARK-TO-LIGHT An appealing graduated look

PARTIAL CROSSHATCHING Usually used for corners and crevices

ZIG-ZAGGING Gives a bold, energetic look

TYPES OF LINES

The classic line is the most versatile. It is used for any type of character or cartooning style. The very dark retro line is best for simplified, angular, high-energy characters. The sketch line is best for the creative process, when you are first inventing your characters. Then use one of the other two lines to trace over the sketch.

CLASSIC LINE

RETRO LINE

Medium Gray Dark Gray Black

SKETCH LINE 9

Action and Body Dynamics

Now let's take everything we've learned and put it together to draw convincing characters as they behave and move in life. (This is just an introduction to the topic. We'll get into it in more detail later, when I show you how to draw neighborhood types.)

CounterweightLEFT

Ba nc e Counlta erbalaand As parts o f a body nce parts mu mov

doesn't fa st move as well- e, other so ll over! H ere are s the body om on how th at works. e specifics

CENTER of balance

CounterweightRIGHT

Weight distribution

UP

(RISES)

DOWN (SINKS)

Up and down

When one part of the body lifts up, another part of the body usually goes down.

And in cartooning, we exaggerate these movements to add humor.

KNEES

UP

ARMS DOWN

To maintain equilibrium, a body has to have equal amounts of weight distributed in front and in back. The body's center point is located at the pit of the throat or at the nose. With this portly fella, if you drew a line from the throat down to the ground, it would end at his heel, making him appear balanced. Both of his hands act as counterweights.

ACTION

Action-reaction

When a character moves part of his body in one direction, another part of his body usually (but not always) moves in the opposite direction.

48

REACTION

ACTION AND BODY DYNAMICS

Double-direction poses

Closely related to the topic of balance is the double-direction pose. In this pose, you add energy to your drawing by turning a character's body away from the thing he's looking at. Take a look at the examples, and you'll immediately feel the extra energy the double-direction pose conveys. Just don't overuse this technique, or all of your characters will be looking at each other sideways, which isn't always appropriate to the story you want to tell.

HEAD TURNS LEFT

HEAD TURNS RIGHT

BODY TURNS LEFT

BODY TURNS RIGHT HEAD TURNS LEFT

BODY TURNS RIGHT 49

Quirky Characters of the

SuburbS Welcome to that hotbed of satire and mirth-your local suburb!

It's just a commuter train ride away!

56

We're starting off in the burbs because this is far and away the most popular spawning ground for today's cartoon characters. The majority of cartoon characters, whether they're in animated TV shows or movies, comic strips or comic books, come right out of suburbia. And why not? Underneath every suburban home's aluminum-sided veneer lies a house full of weird characters just waitingbegging!-to be lampooned.

57

The Neighborhood Dog Target THE SUBURBS

Show up with a mailbag, and even a toy poodle will become a ferocious defender of hearth and home.

Mail carriers can be any character type, old or young, any body shape.

I prefer young characters, because they can be clueless while retaining ' a degree of sweetness and naivete.

Eyeline focused on object of humor

Makes effort to maintain nonchalant expression, contrasting with...

Long shorts

66

...stiff limbs, showing fierce tension

THE SUBURBS

Pizza Delivery Guy

A typical teen character, Pizza Guy is elongated, lanky and awkwardly built. He's got a small chin and a narrow chest, which makes him look extra-goofy (as does the 90-degree angle of his large clown feet). Twist his cap backward so his scruffy hair pokes out from underneath.

Remember how we added humor to a fat person (the gardener) by giving her dainty little hands? With a skinny character, we do the opposite. We give him big, fat fingers.

Low-set ears

Long neck

Small chin

CounterBALANCE To hold the pizza up, his other arm points down and out

Angle cap's visor down for a funny look No shoulders

Big, fat fingers are goofy So are fat feet

Bell-bottom pants emphasize big feet

Legs remain slim

67

THE SUBURBS

GothGirl

Some kids want to end world Trianglepoverty, some want to cure cancershaped and some want to pierce things that body will upset their parents. The goth girl fits into this last category. She has two emotions: gloomy and gloomier.

Goths have long, flat hair and wear loose, dark clothing. Their whole appearance says, ''Stay away, I'm ticked off and dangerous.''

HAIRDOs for MOPPETS Pixie imp

Straight back High pony -tail

Super long

78

Long sleeves

Bangs rest on eyes

Hardly any legs showing

Wide-set eyes for a creepy hostile look

Suburban Pet: The Beagle

THE SUBURBS

To me, the beagle is the quintessential suburban canine. A case could certainly be made for the labrador retriever as well; however, for cartooning purposes, they don't have as interesting a construction as the beagle.

The beagle's long, floppy ears, swayback, domelike head and distinctive markings make it enjoyable to draw. And the short muzzle makes it a real cutie.

Floppy ears-

Swayback Dome-like head

Thick legs Slight paunch

-really droop them!

short muzzle

Little tail

79

The Straphanger

BIG-CITY CHARACTERS

Where else can you find a multimillionaire and a homeless person sharing a train ride? In New York, both Wall Street titans and the most unfortunate residents take the subway.

The commuter's body leans to the left, swaying with the motion of the train. If you were to draw him standing straight up, the scene would look quite static.

Rectangle for body

Angle of pant hems

Shoulder material bunches sharply on suit

SHARP DRESSER

Sketch center line

COMPOSITION DETAILS

The thing that pulls this composition together and makes it fun is the newspapers on opposite corners of the panel. Our eye automatically connects similar objects, emphasizing the irony of the scene. Notice that the foreground figure is drawn with a heavier outline than the background figure. If both were drawn with the same thickness of line, they could appear to be on the same plane, which they are not.

86

Center line is an important guide when drawing the tie, collar and lapel

87

Rodeo Drive Shopper F U N N Y H O L LY W O O D C H A R A C T E R S

Severe, slinky posture

To some, shopping is an aerobic activity, not a spectator sport. And to those people, there's no better place to train than on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.

For our cartooning purposes, it never rains in L.A., and the temperature never dips below 80 degrees. So your slinky, sexy cartoon model can wear revealing, form-fitting clothes every day of the year. She should have a swayback posture that somehow, on her, looks appealing. Everything she wears is name-brand and top-of-theline-the sunglasses, the lip gloss, the hair, the skirt and, of course, those great boots.

And she's not waiting for the bus, pal-unless the bus driver drives a

ABOUT ARMS

Ordinary arms

126

Stylish healthclub arms

Hips diverge at two angles

Skirt hangs off hips, does not hug legs

“Where are you, Frederic?

I’ve been waiting for over two minutes! „

LIGHT AND SHADOW

Notice how the sun casts a dramatic shadow that makes the figure really pop against the background.

127

f CH.CARTOON JACKET.FINAL.

12/4/07

3:18 PM

Page 1

Chris Hart Books

Cartoonist extraordinaire Chris Hart shares his best secrets for creating unforgettable characters.

Showing Eye Expressions

HAPPY ANTICIPATION Character looks sideways out of corners of eyes. Eyebrows arch up

Chris Hart takes you neighborhood by neighborhood to check out all the cleverest cartoon character types in their natural habitats. Following Chris's detailed step-by-step tutorials, learn to draw the classic cartoon family, goofy suburbanites, the super-rich inhabitants of Rodeo Drive and all the funniest urban eccentrics. Learn to use body language, gesture, costume and action lines to create weird and wacky cartoon characters.

EVIL Lower eyelids rise toward upper eyelids

ANGRY In a profile, the eyebrow touches the eyeball and tilts up slightly

nside I e r Mo MuchLearn Chris Hart's favorite

drawing tips and techniques, and create your own zany cartoon characters

CHRIS HART is the world's best-selling

author of how-to-draw books.

Chris Hart

Books

The Ultimate Character Design Book

You have to understand how eyes work in concert with a character's other features. For our model, I've chosen our mischievous 12-yearold pal, whom I'll call Brandon.

Where do cartoonists find their character inspiration?

By looking at the people around them!

Cartooning

Here’s a sample

Chris Hart

Cartooning The Ultimate character Design Book

$19.95 US

$23.95 CANADA

Cartooning

TheUltimate Character Design Book Learn the basics of character design: cool head shapes, drawing from different angles, creating expressive eyes and other fun features.

Then use your skills to design your own favorite wacky characters.

Learn to

draw quirky cartoon

characters from the master Cartoonist