Saturday, July 21, 2018

Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Draw a Cartoon Face Correctly


Hello fellow Art Warriors! Thank you so much for your patience and time taken out of your day to read my blog posts. Along with this post, I wanted to announce that I got out of Summer School on June 5th! Now you can read my posts on time and not have to wait for them in the middle of the week. I also wanted to thank you for not blasting me and criticizing me in the comments section about it. That means a lot to me! I hope you enjoy this article and, as always, find this article (along with the others I posted) helpful in your goal to improving in your craft. Happy Reading, fellow Art Warriors!!!!

P.S: If you have any stories, comments, or if you simply just want to have a conversation or say "hi," leave a comment in the comment section below after/while you're viewing this post. Have an AWESOME Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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This post is part of a series called How to Draw Cartoons.
Cartoon Fundamentals: Create Emotions From Simple Changes in the Face
This post is part of a series called Learn How to Draw.
What Is Composition, and Why Is It So Important in Drawing?
Children are the main audience when referring to the cartoons. A good cartoonist is one who can extract the main details of an object or a human being and simplify in shapes so that a child can recognize and be attracted to what they're looking at. Was studying infant perception that masters like Walt Disney, Hanna & Barbera, Chuck Jones, Jim Henson, Walter Lantz and many others have enchanted the world with its magical and eternals characters.
My role here is to make you understand the proper way to assemble this puzzle and definitely learn how to build any character from the techniques presented. I guarantee you will be shocked at how easy it is to create a cartoon expression that children (and adults) will adore!
To get some inspiration, have a look at the hundreds of character designs on Envato Elements. Or for a shortcut, try a character creation kit!
Cartoon character creation kit
Cartoon character creation kit
The human-being has a very interesting feature: We can synthesize the details that make up a structure or an object in very complex ways into very basic and simple ones. This way we can represent any type of thing through a few curves and geometric shapes.
Can you tell me if the two images below represent the same object?
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Weird as it may seem, you can look at the two pictures and say "it's a car".
What happens is that, unlike artists, most people can't tell from memory all the details that make up a car, a dog or even a child. So they start to associate very basic and primitive shapes to the specific characteristics of each object. How many children of 4, 5 or 6 years old came from school with a drawing of two circles and some toothpicks on a piece of paper and said: "That's mommy and daddy!"?
draw a cartoon face tutorial
You don't want to keep drawing like that, do you? So, let's get our hands dirty and make some cartoon faces!
The basic cartoon shape is a circle. Circle Is All You Need (besides Love, of course). It's from the circle that you define the basic proportions of your character's head.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Once the circle is ready, it's time to trace the face axis. Draw a vertical and horizontal line intersecting at the center, like in the image below:
draw a cartoon face tutorial
To make the eyes, draw an oval shape with a slight tilt to the side at the top. Repeat on opposite side. It is important to leave a gap between them of approximately the same size as an eye. As we are in the drafting phase, you can draw another eye in the center to serve as a measure.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
At the top of the circle, slightly thicken the trait that will be the eyelashes of our character. Place the eyebrows a bit above the eyelashes to spend a sort of a surprise expression. The eyebrow form is free and with practice you will adjust to your own style.
Draw both pupils directed to the center (this is a very effective tactic used by major cartoonists whose sole purpose is to make our characters look cuter).
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Tip: To give more life and "realism" in our eyes you can draw a small line below them to simulate a kind of wrinkle. This is another very interesting tactic that adds a special touch to our facial expressions.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
We arrived in the most creative freedom of the whole course. Think of it this way: In cartoon style designs, the main structure of a face is the skull and the eyes of the character. It is at that stage where you define the identification with the external world, IE, it is already clear to people that you're drawing a character.
Now that we come to the jaw, we will decide if we want a fat character or a thin one. Could be old, young and so on. My character will be a young one. So, let's design a proper jaw for him.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
When designing a nose being seen from the front, it is common not to use many details. If you draw only its tip, it is likely that already achieves a convincing effect. It is also very common detailing to draw only one side of the nose, from the idea that this is the opposite side of light.
Let's put the correct nose on our character.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
As our character is a child, we will make a cartoon mouth: something simple just to represent an expression of innocence.
Notice that when drawing a little child's mouth, the lips shouldn't be drawn! In cartoon style, children, regardless of gender, have quite simple mouths. A good and expressive trace already does the job.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
The ears are seen from the front side view (because our character is facing the camera), so that the internal cavities will not appear. Then we will do just a simple shape using some basic perspective (more on that later).
draw a cartoon face tutorial
The shape of our skull is already defined by the circle we did at the beginning, right? So we just need a very simple and childish haircut to give life to our boy. Let's do it now.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Easy, easy... there is nothing to fear. Nobody needs to be stylist or fashion designer to make the perfect hair. There isn't a right way to draw hair, so you'll need to try until you create the ideal haircut you want. Just remember that the hair is responsible for defining the personality of our characters. Oddly enough, the hair can express age, rebellion, conservatism... incredible, isn't? Speaking of which... what is your hairstyle?! Oh, never mind...
An accurate and fast way to drawing cartoon hair is to seek photo references on the web! I do this all the time: grab a fashion magazine or try a Google search. After finding the ideal style, put the image as a reference next to your drawing board (or tablet) and start making a cartoon and simplified version of it.
Well, it seems we completed our character successfully! Congratulations!
Now let's play a bit more and create a completely different character leveraging the same template we used for little Tommy (yes, I created a name for him).
As usual, let's start with the eyes. This time we will draw faster, adding wrinkles, eyebrows and the eye pupils.
Notice that we haven't changed a lot, we just expanded the eyebrow a bit. Older men have thicker eyebrows, occupying more space on the forehead. Eyelashes make no difference in men, they are always drawn in the same way.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
We will increase our chin a bit this time. Try something like this.
Our character is already with a different "look"! This is very good. We will proceed by choosing the ideal nose for it.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Following what we did before, let's create the nose. This time I will make a completely different nose from before:
Notice that the ends of the nose are positioned very close to the bottom of the eyes. This is an effective technique to use when designing larger and wider noses. The idea is always to exaggerate to get a good result!
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Speaking of overkill, let's eliminate the mouth of our character in favor of another artifact...
I decided to use another technique now: instead of drawing the mouth, we'll simply draw a big mustache to create a better persona for our character.
Done! A big and exaggerated mustache for our old friend!
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Remember what I said about the hair helps to represent age and personality? Check it out.
We've just added some side hair and left him bald on top. Amazing how it creates a totally different look, isn't it? Also notice that I took the same ear from Tommy, our beloved boy. That's the advantage of working on templates. That's the magic of cartoon!
draw a cartoon face tutorial
I think our friend is a mad scientist!
I don't know... I think Tommy needs a sister! He's been very lonely out there. Let's create a sister for him now, as if by magic:
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Hey!!! How did you do that so fast? Very simple ... Women have more delicate facial structures. Follow the step-by-step instructions below:
  • Thin eyebrows;
  • Larger and expressive eyelashes;
  • Thinner chin;
  • Small nose with less details;
  • Long hair (use a real reference and choose any style you want).
That's it. These are all changes you need to do. Besides that, I took everything I could from Tommy, her brother. After all, they are siblings, right?
When you start to feel more comfortable, you can slowly create some more "realistic" details to your characters. Such as larger pupils...
draw a cartoon face tutorial
We are ready to add more emotions to our dear Lucy (yes, that's her name). Let's draw her after receiving the news that their school holidays have come to an end...
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Again we achieve something totally different just adding two things: The tears and the new shape of her mouth! Isn't it amazing?!
Now let's get back to Tommy and ask him what he thinks about it:
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Hmm... I got a feeling that Tommy is planning something!
Notice that I've totally changed his expression just following the steps below:
  • Making one eyebrow lower than the other;
  • Cutting the eyes in half with the eyelashes;
  • Adding a smile (one side is higher, following the eyebrow);
  • Moving up the eye pupils to stay under the eyelashes.
And that's it! We got the expected result with just these few changes. Hair, ears, nose, chin and the circular shape of the eyes are the same! Simple as that!
Draw the template below again. Now we'll learn how to make Tommy and Lucy from the profile view:
draw a cartoon face tutorial
We will fit the face of both now:
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Notice that, in profile, is the ear that stays in the center of the circle.
Be aware of the main differences in structure when comparing them side by side. Pay attention to these details when drawing male and female characters:
  • Tommy's eyebrow is thicker
  • Lucy's chin is slightly projected in front of the face
  • Lucy's nose is thinner and pointed;
  • Lucy has big and feminine eyelashes.
Eyes, nose, mouth, ears... all the details that make up the face change its shape when viewed from different angles. It's very common to see cartoon characters looking at every possible direction with different camera angles, because they will need to react to situations and objects around them. This helps bring them more to life!
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Notice how the eye format is simplified when converted to cartoon. See it in red the oval shape in contrast to the circular shape of the real eye.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
The real nose is composed by several cartilages. Notice how its shape is drastically simplified in the cartoon.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Understanding how the mouth behaves at different angles is essential. Remove the excess detail and try to keep only the basic shape of the lips. The ears are also dramatically simplified.
Now we will put into practice everything we have learned so far... Below follows a basic template (only circles and directional guides) where we can practice our drawing skills in different positions:
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Let's mark the eyes in different directions for each one of the circles...
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Now, let's add some random jaws, with different sizes and shapes...
draw a cartoon face tutorial
It's up to you now. I guess you can walk alone and explore the techniques I gave to you to complete the drawings. Remember that cartoon style has two premises:
  • Simplify the face details in rounded shapes;
  • Exaggerate the facial expressions.
Once you managed to sketch the direction of the eyes and have chosen the proper chins, try to use your creativity to build how many faces you want. You can be sure that, if you practice at least 10 minutes per day of the techniques presented here, drawing cartoon faces will be as natural to you as breathing.
Let's summarize! To reinforce what I talked throughout the tutorial, let's remember the proper steps to draw cartoon faces:
  1. Make a circle that will represent the skull of our character;
  2. Set the direction in which your character will be looking at and draw the guidelines;
  3. Make the outline of the eyes in an oval shape;
  4. Draw the eye pupils (make them pointing to the nose, if you want a cute character). Don't forget the eyelashes;
  5. Choose the correct eyebrow, depending on the age and gender of your character;
  6. Draw an appropriate jaw;
  7. Draw simplified ears;
  8. Search haircut styles in Google (or a magazine) and use it as a guide reference for your sketch;
  9. Celebrate!
Below is my version:
draw a cartoon face tutorial
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Example of how to use the same template to build distinct emotions. Notice that only the eyelashes and eyebrows were changed. Nothing more!!!
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We are nearing the end of our tutorial. As a last tip, I would encourage you to continue experimenting with facial expressions and, whenever possible, to invest more in studies of the face. Learn how the eyes and mouth behave in different situations. Take a look at different ethnicities and the key features.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
For example, those of a black ethnic origin have a slightly flattened nose and more rounded cheek bones.
Whenever possible, try to give a little more realism to your characters. Observe the behavior of people in real life. Look at photos, study the style of your favorite artist or search for inspiration on the Internet. It's when we look to real life that we can extract quality information for our drawings. But remember: observing the real world does not mean copying! You want your character to be unique and not a copy of reality, right?
Now you know the basic techniques used by the best cartoon artists around the world. There is plenty more to come and this is just a small fraction of the cartoon drawing tutorials I'll be presenting to you. Up next, we're going to dig deeper into cartoon expressions.
Take what you learn here and work on your first characters. You can earn a nice side-income selling your character designs on GraphicRiver as you ramp up your skills. Continue to grow your artistic skills and you can earn a full-time income as a cartoonist.
draw a cartoon face tutorial
draw a cartoon face tutorial
Explore different styles and skull format! Sky's the limit!
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Saturday, July 14, 2018

Human Anatomy Fundamentals: Basic Body Proportions

Hello everyone! How's your summer?! Awesome, I hope. Based on my experience, there have been some fellow artists that are having trouble drawing the male and female body; therefore, they also struggle with the different aspects included with each figure. In order to clear things up, I thought my blog post would address something from the basics. I hope you enjoy! Happy Reading my fellow art warriors!
If you’ve practiced capturing energy in the previous tutorial, you’ll have acquired a good feel for loose sketching of people. We’re going to start giving structure to that feeling-based groundwork by studying the body with a more scientific eye.
Let me say that it will take many sessions to cover the wonders of the human body. Not only is it among the most sophisticated animal structures in nature, it is also one of those with most variations: few other species come in so many shapes and colors. Nobody, therefore, should feel frustrated for having trouble drawing people; it is an ambitious undertaking.
We’re going to build up this skill from the ground up, in the same order as a drawing process, starting with a simplified skeleton (the basic figure or stick figure), moving on to the volumes of muscle structure, and then finally the details of each part of the body and face.
The first fundamental to acquire is proportions, and we’re going to be practicing with this basic figure for a while while we become familiar, not only with the conventional "ideal proportions", but also with the way they vary with gender, age, even ethnic background.
If you're drawing digitally, perhaps you want your work to look more like it's created with pencil and paper. If this is the case, may we recommend one of the many Photoshop brush sets available on GraphicRiver, including this Classic Art Brush Pack.
Classic Art Brush Pack
Brush Pack Professional volume 4 - Classic Art
A well-proportioned figure, regardless of variations due to gender or such, is defined by the alignment of the joints, which is invariable (that is, we perceive something odd if it does vary). This is our groundwork for proportions. Draw your own chart with me as we go, it really helps learning the material.
Start by drawing an oval or egg shape (pointy end down) for a head, and mark down eight measurements, the last one being the ground.
The measurement (ideal male height = eight heads) was set down during the Renaissance as an idealization of the human form. It’s rather obvious that very few people are actually eight heads tall (even Northern Europeans, who served as basis for this model, are closer to seven heads), but this is still the best model to start with, as it makes it easier to grasp the alignments.
a- Starting with the head
Add the pelvic bone next, simplified as a flattened circle between marks 3 and 4, with the hip joints sitting on 4. Its width is roughly 1.5 to 2 head-widths. You can now draw the spine connecting the head to this most important part of the body, its center of gravity and stability.
b- The pelvis
Let’s assume this figure is standing with feet vertically aligned with the hip joints. The knee joints sit on mark 6, as that line corresponds to the bottom of the knee caps.
When the leg is stretched out, the knee joint is placed on a straight line with the hip and ankle (left). But this straight line is virtual: to complete the leg, connect the hip joint to the inside of the knee cap, and then again, the outside of the knee to the inside of the ankle (right). This is a very simplified but accurate representation of the actual bone structure, and helps in drawing the natural look of the human leg, which tapers in from the hip, then staggers out at the knee and tapers in again. It also helps with placing the muscles at a later stage.
c- The legs
The ribcage-lungs group is the third important volume of the body, after the head and the pelvis. Simplified, it is an oval that starts halfway between 1 and 2, down to mark 3; but it is best to chop off the lower part of it as shown here to imitate the actual rib cage, as the empty part between the two volumes is important: it is soft and subject to change (flat belly, soft belly, wasp waist) and it is also where the most torsion and movement happens in the spine. It’s good to be aware of that and not attach torso and pelvis together like two blocks, as that would "block" your drawing’s range of motion. The width of the oval is roughly the same as the pelvis for now.
Two more details here: the nipples fall on mark 2, just inside the sides of the head, and the belly button on mark 3.
d- The torso
The shoulder line is about halfway between marks 1 and 2, with the shoulder width 2 to 3 head-widths, but its apparent position can vary a great deal. To begin with, it’s slightly curved down, but in tension the shoulders tense up and the curve can itself turn up and look higher. Furthermore, the trapezius muscle, which from the front appears to connect the shoulder with the neck, is highly individual; if it’s very muscular, or carries much fat, it can make the shoulder line look so high there’s no neck; inversely, an underdeveloped trapezius, often seen in very young women, gives the impression of a long neck.
This brief digression into non-skeletal details is to insure there is no confusion between the actual position of the shoulder line and its apparent placement in a fleshed-out body, some examples of which are shown below.
e- The shoulders
Finally, the arms: The wrists are on mark 4, slightly below the hip joints which sit on it (you can test it out for yourself by standing up and pressing your wrists against your hips). The fingers end roughly at mid-thigh, which is mark 5. The elbows are a slightly complicated joint that we’ll examine in detail later, but for now it’s helpful to mark them as elongated ovals sitting on level 3.
f- The arms
We’re done... almost. Before summing this up, let’s extend those marks into lines and see how this works in profile.
Start by drawing the head again, the same egg shape but with the end pointing diagonally down, and drop a vertical line from the crown to the ground.
In an erect posture, you can place the pelvic bone (a narrower version of the head’s egg), the shoulder and knee roughly on this vertical line. They are on the same level as before: all the joints are, but the others are not on the same plane as these.
g- Starting the profile
From the side, the spine is revealed as being shaped like a flattened "S". From the base of the skull, it moves down and back till it reaches its furthest point at the level of the shoulders (between the shoulder blades). Note the shoulder joints are ahead of the spine! This is because, again, the shoulder "line" is in reality an arc: the medallion shows a top view of it.
The spine then comes back forward, and peaks again (inward) a little above the pelvis (the small of the back, which varies in depth and can make for arched back). Finally it changes direction again briefly and ends in the coccyx or tail bone.
h- The spine
The ribcage is closely attached to the spine, and, in a reasonably fit body standing erect, the chest is naturally pushed forward.
The hip joint is ahead of our vertical axis, and this is counterbalanced by the ankle being a bit behind it. So our hip-knee-ankle line is slanted backward, and staggered again: from hip joint to front of knee joint, and from back of knee joint to ankle.
The overall effect of this posture is a visual arc from head to chest to feet (in green), and when it’s flattened or reversed, we perceive an uncertainty or slouch in the posture.
i- Torso and legs
Finally, the arms. The upper arm falls fairly straight from the shoulder, so the elbow can be aligned with the latter (or fall slightly backward). But the arm is never fully stretched when at rest, so the forearm is not vertical: the arm is slightly bend and the wrist falls forward, right over the hip bone. (Also when the hand is relaxed, fingers curl a little as shown here).
j- The arms
This completes the basic, undifferentiated human proportions, and here’s a diagram to sum up all of the above:
Summing up
The following are a few useful visual reminders that are based in the body. They come in handy when the body is not standing upright.
Proportion reminders
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We’ve covered a lot of material, and now is a good time to pause the studying and familiarize yourself with this basic figure before we move on to differences between male and female structures (and others). For instance, you can integrate this new knowledge to your daily sketching practice by overlaying a quick energy sketch with this correctly proportioned basic figure.
I consistently start with the head, but it doesn’t really matter what part of the body you start drawing, if you’re comfortable and get a good result. If unsure or are having a hard time, then I do suggest trying with the head first.
Get used to drawing this basic figure with a light hand, since the finished body will be built up over it. Traditionally, the final lines are inked and the guidelines then erased (hence the importance of a light hand) but even when I’m sketching with a ballpoint in the intent of inking on a different sheet by transparency, keeping a light hand ensures I can see what I’m doing.
Exercise
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