How to Draw and Paint Crazy Cartoon Characters: Create Original Characters with Lots of Personality (Quarto Book) [Paperback]

Vincent Woodcock (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2007 | Series: Quarto Book

Aspiring cartoon artists, comic book collectors, and nostalgia buffs will discover a happy combination of cartoon history and practical instruction in this color-illustrated book. It teaches art students dozens of ways to simplify, exaggerate, and distort the people, animals, and objects in their illustrations to achieve hilarious effects. An overview of cartoon history showcases humorous characters as they appeared in nineteenth-century satire, in children's books, in cartoons of the 1920s, in Hollywood animation of the 1940s, and in today's manga and anime cartoons. The author shows how to create cartoons using a wide range of media, from pen and ink to paint and pixels. Art students will get tips on making their cartoons interesting with funny props and laughter-evoking backgrounds. Most important are the comic character types that they place in their illustrations' foregrounds. Here's how to create stock types--the idiot, the cutie-pie, the comic hero, the evil genius, the loyal sidekick, the straight man, and the heavy. Here, too, are imaginative ways to costume different characters, give them funny poses, and dramatize their emotions through facial expressions, such as fear, anger, boredom, amusement, or surprise. A final chapter advises beginning cartoonists on how to build a portfolio, present their work, create a web site, and find an agent and steady work. More than 300 illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an excellent book that prepares and encourages middle- or highschool readers to learn more about the cartooning field. A comprehensive primer for cartoon character design."
School Arts magazine

From the Inside Flap

(back cover)
Cartoon characters are leaping out everywhere--from comic book pages, billboards, computer games, and TV screens. Find out how to inject personality into your artwork and create your own fresh and funny characters.

Discover how to simplify, exaggerate, and distort your designs to hilarious effect . . . bend the rules of anatomy to give your characters funny bones . . . create madcap expressions and riotous body language.

Experiment with a range of media, from pen and ink to paint and marker, and learn techniques to turn flat cartoons into three-dimensional comic creations, complete with humorous props and backgrounds.

Includes practical information on honing your designs for different markets and professional advice on presenting and selling your finished artwork.

Vincent Woodcock is a professional animator, designer, director, and illustrator. He has directed feature animation for Disney (DuckTales The Movie, The Tigger Movie) and award-winning TV commercials and promos. He currently teaches character design in the animation course at the renowned St. Martin's College, London.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764135732
• ISBN-13: 978-0764135736
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #181,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get What Other Cartooning Books Miss: Style and Character Design, March 10, 2008

By 

Ryan J. Benedetti - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Draw and Paint Crazy Cartoon Characters: Create Original Characters with Lots of Personality (Quarto Book) (Paperback)

An excellent book that fills a gaping hole in the cartooning field. A better title would've been Cartoon Character Design. The book accomplishes everything a How-To book accomplishes while focusing on helping budding cartoons work towards personal style. Each section contains tip lists, excellent shortcuts and insider notes you won't find in other books. I've collected cartooning books for over 30 years. This one is at the top of my list along with Cartooning the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm and Ben Caldwell's Cartooning series.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than drawing, November 11, 2007

By 

William McDonald "Back to being Creative" (Silver Spring, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Draw and Paint Crazy Cartoon Characters: Create Original Characters with Lots of Personality (Quarto Book) (Paperback)

This book has more than how to draw tough horoes and heroines, evil-looking villans and goofy anti-heroes. It goes into how to properly give color to your charactors and some information on scripting.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wide Variety of Techniques Shown - Excellent for cartoonists!, February 26, 2009

By 

Krishna M. Sadasivam "pcweenies dot com carto... (Tampa, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Draw and Paint Crazy Cartoon Characters: Create Original Characters with Lots of Personality (Quarto Book) (Paperback)

There's something for everyone in Vincent Woodcock's "How to Draw..." book, whether you're new to cartooning, or a seasoned vet. This well-written and well-illustrated book focuses foremost on the techniques and approaches used in character design. It succeeds at its mission and then some, with sections on the fundamentals of drawing (hands, anatomy, and the importance of clear silhouettes), characterization (caricatures, action poses, acting) and professional practices (model sheets, presenting your work).

Not a single page in this 128 page book is wasted. It's filled to the brim with very useful information that any cartoonist would appreciate. A wide variety of character styles are also represented, providing a more complete picture (pardon the pun) on the diversity of character design. Highly recommended.