Big Book of Cartooning [Paperback]

Bruce Blitz (Author), Foreword by Bill Keane of "Family Circus" Bruce Blitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2001

Discover the tricks of the cartooning trade with help from Bruce Blitz, host of the Emmy-nominated PBS program Cartooning with Blitz. Transform the simplest doodles into elaborate illustrations of a policeman, a lion, or even a unique, original comic strip!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Get out your number 2 pencils! Bruce Blitz, professional cartoonist, television personality, and all-around enthusiastic guy, is going to teach you how to draw! The Big Book of Cartooning is a fun, comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to the basic techniques of cartooning. In his Big Book, Blitz explains the process of drawing cartoons with detailed chapters that cover everything from the selection of paper and pencils to sketching animals and portraits. And don't worry if it doesn't turn out right the first time--Blitz's optimistic style and encouraging words will help smooth over the rough spots. In the forward, Bil Keane, syndicated cartoonist and creator of "The Family Circus," writes, "It is a brilliant compilation of the many basic aspects of drawing, simplified and presented in a breezy, entertaining style." Whether you're a budding young artist or an old dog still scratching out stick people, The Big Book of Cartooning can help you sketch more interesting and expressive pictures. Reading this book won't necessarily turn you into the next Gary Larson, but with a little guidance from Bruce Blitz and a lot of practice, you could be drawing better cartoons in no time! --George Laney --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Blitz has the honor of having been nominated for four Emmy Awards for his PBS television series Blitz on Cartooning. Having already written eight cartooning books, he now turns out a rather uninspired effort. He covers the basic drawing of faces, animals, action, and so on and offers tips on producing caricatures, greeting cards, business cards, and advertisements. A more amusing and insightful book is Christopher Hart's Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Running Press Kids (January 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0762409398
• ISBN-13: 978-0762409396
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Cartooning Book!, September 29, 2004

By 

G.G. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Book of Cartooning (Paperback)

This book has everything, I mean everything about drawing cartoons. It covers drawing people, animals, cars, you name it, it's in this book. It also has a section on caricatures and comic strips. This book is huge and is a great bargain!
Much cheaper than taking a class on how to draw.
Best investment I've made for learning about cartoons.
I have two other how to cartoon books and this one is the best.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Cartooning Book I Have Ever Seen, January 9, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Big Book of Cartooning (Paperback)

This book shows you everything from the basics of cartooning to how to sell your cartoon. It shows you how to do many cartoon face features and even draw people you know. Bruce Blitz makes it easy and fun to learn how to cartoon. THIS BOOK IS GREAT!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, April 26, 2007

By 

Reader "a_reader_999" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Book of Cartooning (Paperback)

A casual glance through this book originally made me think it looked too cutesy and not what I wanted. I'll still say that too many of his characters and examples are cutesy, and rather stilted. But there's a lot of excellent material here. I found several tips that I (so far) haven't seen in several other books. I've had several nagging questions: Exactly how do I get things done? How is a finished cartoon created? On what size and kind of paper, using what tools? Blitz walks you through all of that stuff. The section on drawing backgrounds and perspective was also really handy.

I'd say this is the single best book I've seen to get started on cartooning. Even if you want to draw some other, very different style (like, some kind of dark Batman comic or something), if you have little or no cartooning experience, this book will be helpful.