What's so special about this book?Bill Nolan is pretty much the guy who (back in the 1920's) created the round, rubbery, bouncy animated cartoon style we all take for granted today.
Check out the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive about this 24-page "how-to-draw" book by animation pioneer William C. Nolan.
What's so special about this book?Bill Nolan is pretty much the guy who (back in the 1920's) created the round, rubbery, bouncy animated cartoon style we all take for granted today.
Check out the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive about this 24-page "how-to-draw" book by animation pioneer William C. Nolan.
I just love the giant hands on all these characters, reminding me of Bud Fisher's Mutt& Jeff, Elzie C. Segar's Thimble Theater (Popeye) and George Herriman's Stumble Inn. It'skinda strange how different decades have different cartooning styles. I wouldn't mind at all if this old-timey "bigfoot" style started to make a comeback!
This book is a quick survey of the most basic building blocks of how to draw cartoon characters: There are different mini lessons on how to draw the head, hands, feet, full figures, action poses, animals and kids. Like a lot of books of this type, it doesn't go into great detail, but it's fun for what it is! It looks like all the text from the book has been re-typed in captions underneath the scans, which makes it a lot easier to read than scanned type. Thanks, Steve!
You can check out the whole set of scans over at the AHAA. They're unfortunately not very big scans, but if you're ever in the Burbank area, the Archive is open to the public on Tuesdays thru Fridays. When you arrive, just ask Stephen Worth and I'm sure he'll let you page thru the entire thing!
I just love the giant hands on all these characters, reminding me of Bud Fisher's Mutt& Jeff, Elzie C. Segar's Thimble Theater (Popeye) and George Herriman's Stumble Inn. It'skinda strange how different decades have different cartooning styles. I wouldn't mind at all if this old-timey "bigfoot" style started to make a comeback!
This book is a quick survey of the most basic building blocks of how to draw cartoon characters: There are different mini lessons on how to draw the head, hands, feet, full figures, action poses, animals and kids. Like a lot of books of this type, it doesn't go into great detail, but it's fun for what it is! It looks like all the text from the book has been re-typed in captions underneath the scans, which makes it a lot easier to read than scanned type. Thanks, Steve!
You can check out the whole set of scans over at the AHAA. They're unfortunately not very big scans, but if you're ever in the Burbank area, the Archive is open to the public on Tuesdays thru Fridays. When you arrive, just ask Stephen Worth and I'm sure he'll let you page thru the entire thing!
Today's storyboarding commentary video talks about staging and composition; planning out your drawings to leave room for characters and actions. Also, designing props and background elements that aid in your storytelling.
The video window above looks small, but if you click on the full-screen button (at the bottom right of the video), it'll look nice and BIG!
A little bit of planning can make a big difference. This scene was staged with the second panel in mind. Knowing that Mary-Frances was going to enter the scene and admire Bessie’s pile of work, we left plenty of room in that first panel.
One of the best bits of advice I ever received was, “stage a scene based on the widest action.” It’s usually not necessary to zoom in super close on the characters…it’s nice to leave some breathing room. This allows for nice negative shapes around the characters, and allows you to draw the key players and props with easily-readable silhouettes.
Every character is drawn with a specific expression that reveals their character, and (as we’ll see later) advances the story. -------------------------------------------- Yesterday I went through the comments again on the last few posts and answered a ton of questions that were asked there. So if you left a comment before, you may wanna check back on those posts (see links below) to find your answer. If its not there yet, it’ll be coming soon. -------------------------------------------------- Other posts in this Storyboarding Commentary series:
Today's storyboarding commentary video talks about staging and composition; planning out your drawings to leave room for characters and actions. Also, designing props and background elements that aid in your storytelling.
The video window above looks small, but if you click on the full-screen button (at the bottom right of the video), it'll look nice and BIG!
A little bit of planning can make a big difference. This scene was staged with the second panel in mind. Knowing that Mary-Frances was going to enter the scene and admire Bessie’s pile of work, we left plenty of room in that first panel.
One of the best bits of advice I ever received was, “stage a scene based on the widest action.” It’s usually not necessary to zoom in super close on the characters…it’s nice to leave some breathing room. This allows for nice negative shapes around the characters, and allows you to draw the key players and props with easily-readable silhouettes.
Every character is drawn with a specific expression that reveals their character, and (as we’ll see later) advances the story. -------------------------------------------- Yesterday I went through the comments again on the last few posts and answered a ton of questions that were asked there. So if you left a comment before, you may wanna check back on those posts (see links below) to find your answer. If its not there yet, it’ll be coming soon. -------------------------------------------------- Other posts in this Storyboarding Commentary series:
In today's storyboard commentary, the topic is Pans. "Pan" is short for "Panorama Shot," a camera move in which we move the viewer from left to right, or right to left, or vertically or diagonally.
The video window below looks small, but if you click on the full-screen button (at the bottom right of the video), it'll look nice and BIG!
Here are some examples of pans from my storyboards on SpongeBob, Phineas & Ferb and Hey Arnold:
I've been answering many of your questions in the blog comments, while other questions are answered in the videos. If your question hasn't been answered yet, It's probably because I'm trying to answer them in the context of the topic of the posts...so I promise I'll get to them all ^_^
In today's storyboard commentary, the topic is Pans. "Pan" is short for "Panorama Shot," a camera move in which we move the viewer from left to right, or right to left, or vertically or diagonally.
The video window below looks small, but if you click on the full-screen button (at the bottom right of the video), it'll look nice and BIG!
Here are some examples of pans from my storyboards on SpongeBob, Phineas & Ferb and Hey Arnold:
I've been answering many of your questions in the blog comments, while other questions are answered in the videos. If your question hasn't been answered yet, It's probably because I'm trying to answer them in the context of the topic of the posts...so I promise I'll get to them all ^_^
Bill Griffith (of Zippy the Pinhead fame) has been successfully creating his idiosyncratic comics since the early ‘70s. He’s a keen observer and a funhouse mirror when it comes to society’s foibles…and his cartooning chops are top-notch!
Griffith recently posted his “Top 40 List on Comics and Their Creation,” an incredible, inspiring and thought-provoking gift to the cartooning community.
Gems on this list range from the philosophical (#10: “Cartoon characters have souls”) to the downright practical (#12 on lettering and speech balloons, #26 on copyright protection)
After sharing these links with some of my friends on Facebook and Twitter, I realized that all this great info will soon be buried under all the millions of other posts added daily to the internet. Click on any of the thumbnails above to see and download the 4 pages of great cartooning advice. If you want to find Bill Griffith on Facebook, he’s HERE:
Bill Griffith (of Zippy the Pinhead fame) has been successfully creating his idiosyncratic comics since the early ‘70s. He’s a keen observer and a funhouse mirror when it comes to society’s foibles…and his cartooning chops are top-notch!
Griffith recently posted his “Top 40 List on Comics and Their Creation,” an incredible, inspiring and thought-provoking gift to the cartooning community.
Gems on this list range from the philosophical (#10: “Cartoon characters have souls”) to the downright practical (#12 on lettering and speech balloons, #26 on copyright protection)
After sharing these links with some of my friends on Facebook and Twitter, I realized that all this great info will soon be buried under all the millions of other posts added daily to the internet. Click on any of the thumbnails above to see and download the 4 pages of great cartooning advice. If you want to find Bill Griffith on Facebook, he’s HERE:
In just twenty-nine pages he teaches aspiring professional artists how to draw cartoons the way they were done in the old-fashioned style of 1923!
Some of the pages are corny and not very useful today, but MOST of this book features rock-solid cartooning tips for learning how to draw in that old big-foot print cartoon style.
Warning: there's some very politically-incorrect caricature material in here. What people thought was funny back then just makes people mad today. Don't say I didn't warn you!
To read all these cartooning tipsas a slideshow, (I think it's easiest to read it this way), click on:
In just twenty-nine pages he teaches aspiring professional artists how to draw cartoons the way they were done in the old-fashioned style of 1923!
Some of the pages are corny and not very useful today, but MOST of this book features rock-solid cartooning tips for learning how to draw in that old big-foot print cartoon style.
Warning: there's some very politically-incorrect caricature material in here. What people thought was funny back then just makes people mad today. Don't say I didn't warn you!
To read all these cartooning tipsas a slideshow, (I think it's easiest to read it this way), click on:
The Groovy Agent has included a lot of background information on this rare and insightful peek into the production process of 1970's Charlton comic books. I've been wanting to find a copy of this for years, so I'm really excited that Groovy has made this available!
PS...
While you're there, check out this scan of an AMAZING Creepy magazine story drawn by Alex Toth ---
