Learn to Draw Cartoons

Unless people in the whole world stop making babies, cartoons will always be a part of our lives. We grew up watching cartoons. Everybody does. And so if you want to make a living drawing cartoons, know that there is a huge market for your skill. But you really need to be exceptional in your capabilities in order to be recognized in the cartoon entertainment industry. And you can start your long journey as soon as you learn to draw cartoons.

Tips for drawing cartoons

Everyone can draw, but it takes an artist by heart to have the patience to learn how to draw properly. If cartoons are your thing, then you better have the resilience to go through the process of learning. But before we go through the guide on how to draw cartoons, here are simple tips for you.

Draw what you love

Artists have specific genres in drawing, and if cartoons is yours, then you brace yourself for a world of wonders. It is important that you choose a field of drawing that you love, so you will have passion for what you do.

Be creative

Use your imagination in drawing cartoons. At first you should copy cartoon characters to get a feel of how to draw, but later on you can create your own. Be creative in what you draw, and never be scared to venture out of your comfort zone.

Use framework

It is important to use a framework when you draw cartoons. A framework is like a guideline that you sketch on your paper and follow.

Guide on drawing cartoons

After a while, you will find your personal style as a cartoon artist. But for now, you should follow a guide on how to properly draw cartoons.

Get what you need

In drawing cartoons, you need drawing materials like:

• Artist’s pencils
• Sketchbook or blank papers
• Eraser
• Pencil sharpener
• Charcoal
• Colored pencils
• Pastel

You should purchase high quality items in order to ensure that your work is superb. Let go of the mindset that you should use cheap pencils since you are only practicing. A true artist gives excellent value to drawing, even if it is only for practice purposes. So treat each of your drawings as special, regardless of the purpose.

Master the three dimensions

You must know that the basic cartoon character consist of three basic shapes that are three-dimensional. What you need to do is practice drawing the three most basic 3-D shapes of a sphere, a box, and a cylinder.

• Draw the 3-D shapes over and over until you are a hundred percent confident that you can draw a 3-D version of shapes.
• When you are completely sure that you have a solid foundation of drawing 3-D boxes, spheres, and cylinders, then it is time to experiment.
• Draw the three shapes with a twist. Bend the 3-D shapes, stretch them, modify their shapes, and simply look for ways to experiment.

Practice the flour sack

Once you have mastered the 3-D shapes, you are now ready to manipulate the three basic shapes to form a flour sack.

• Draw a square and top it off with a sphere, then work on smoothing the connecting lines. It is important that you master the shape of a flour sack in order to know how to draw a basic cartoon character.
• Create your own animation of the flour sack by stretching the image, bending the drawing, or squishing it. Do any possible shape with the flour sack that you can think of.
• After you have practiced with the flour sack over and over, it is time to bring in the cylinder shape. Draw the cylinder 3-D shape on each side of the flour sack, making it look like limbs.

Drawing your cartoon character

Now it is time to draw your first cartoon character through the flour sack concept.

• Draw a flour sack that is actually a torso of your cartoon character.
• And then add legs, arms, and a neck by following these guidelines:
  – Arms: position the arms from each corner of the flour sack, with width twice as much as the torso. Remember that each arm consists of two cylinders.
  – Legs: place the legs at the bottom of the torso, with height the same as the flour sack. Draw the legs apart for better concept. Each leg has two cylinders.
  – Neck: draw a neck on top of the torso.
• Draw the feet and hands. Take note that since it is your cartoon character, you can choose how many fingers or toes you want to draw.
  – Feet: each foot is composed of a cube and a cone.
  – Hands:make hands out of squares, with the thumb protruding from the side.
• And now let us move on the head. Simply draw a sphere above the neck. After that, draw another sphere halfway through the first sphere. This will create an image of two sections of the face, where the bottom is the jaw, and the topmost is the forehead.
• After that, it is time to draw two oval eyes with black spots to act as pupils. Curve the eyes to make it more realistic.
• Add spherical ears, oval nose, curved mouth, and other features you want to add.

Explore your cartoon character

So you have drawn your first cartoon character. It is not easy, but it is sure is a lot of fun. Now you need to explore how you want to present your creation. Create twists in the body figure, experiment with the facial expression, and just get out of your shell and do not be afraid to modify your cartoon character. Make it into something that you are proud of.

Conclusion

Drawing your own cartoon character takes time to master, but as long as you love the learning process, you will definitely accomplish it. Cartoons are relaxing and they simply bring joy to children. For sure, creating cartoons bring rewarding happiness and fulfillment to artists who draws.