Caricatures is not about drawing, it is about telling stories. Yes, even when you draw a single illustration, you are telling a story. Cartoons are about expressing your thoughts. And it is your thoughts beautifully expressed through your cartoon characters that set you apart from other average cartoon creators.
But as in any other field of life here, you must also learn to walk before attempting to run. To express your thoughts and ideas through your cartoon characters, you must first master the skill of cartoon drawing. So of course you can use your cartoon drawing skills to tell the story at your leisure.
To be proficient at cartoon drawing, you have to face a learning curve. You just can’t decide to be a cartoonist and then copy some popular cartoon figures and become an accomplished cartoonist who is rich and famous. If you are lucky and talented with a keen sense of observation, you can learn a trick or two by making copies of popular cartoon figures. But that is too inappropriate to be of any use.
There are several ways you can take to learn to draw cartoons: you can join cartoon school or take a home study course or follow a book by an expert cartoonist; The bottom line is that you need to follow the steps. As if you should first learn how to draw 3D shapes, then learn how to stretch, squish those 3D shapes in your drawing. Next you should practice things like drawing the hands and head before moving on to movement and emotion and advanced things like that.
If it seems like a lot of work, you’re right. But what you achieve in the end is worth working for. However, if you are smart, you can use the tips that you will discover here to make the whole learning process quick and painless.
1. ==> Don’t start with computers. I agree that I run the risk of looking retroactive. But here I am not completely against the use of the computer, no sane person can do that. But for beginners there is no alternative to pencil and paper.
There are several programs that help you so much that you can keep going even without learning how to draw a smooth line. This type of over-reliance on computers from the beginning always backfires in the future.
2. ==> Nail the fact in your mind that the construction of humans, animals, cars, and most of the things we see around us are complex 3D structures, even though we draw them on paper that is 2D. So when drawing, you need to mentally analyze your model in terms of 3D shapes like spheres and boxes and not in terms of 2D shapes like circles and rectangles.
Also, when drawing something on paper (i.e. 2D), look for and discover the 3D shapes that make up the character.
3. ==> Most cartoon or figure drawing tutorials always start with some basic 3D shapes and after a series of steps end in a complete and beautiful figure. This technique is very effective for learning how to draw complex figures starting with simple shapes. But what I’m going to tell you will make your learning pace even faster. In fact, it is a very simple way to use the same tutorial. Much more effective.
What you need to do is start where the tutorial ends and work back from there. Look at the whole picture and try to recognize the basic shapes of the ingredients. And compare your analysis with the exact shapes used in the tutorial.
This will give you a very comprehensive exercise in recognizing the basic shapes. And after a while you will be analyzing the real life around you like an expert. Take your time and practice this technique, and see how quickly your ability to draw cartoons will improve.
Cartoon drawing is pure fun for both professionals who make a living from cartoons and hobbyists who draw cartoons just for personal pleasure. I don’t know what your goal is, but I hope the tips here are helpful to you. Never stop learning – there is a lot to learn and even more fun in the process. Happy journey!
