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How to Draw New Retro-Style Characters C h r i s t o p h e r h a r t Watson-Guptill Publications/New York Publishedin2005byWatson-GuptillPublications adivisionofVNUBusinessMedia,Inc. 770Broadway NewYork,NY10003 www.wgpub.com ExecutiveEditor:CandaceRaney SeniorDevelopmentEditor:AlisaPalazzo Designer:BobFillie,GraphitiDesign.Inc SeniorProductionManager:EllenGreene Inksoverpencil:RichFaber (pages99.103,105,106,107.109,and110) Copyright©2005ArtStudio,LLC LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Hart,Christopher. Cartooncool;howtodrawthenewretrocharacters oftoday’scartoons/ChristopherHart. p.cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-8230-0587-9(pbk.:alk.paper) 1. Cartooning--Technique,I.Title. NC1764.H342005 741.5--dc22 2004024844 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthecontentsofthis publicationmaybereproducedorusedinanyform orbyanymeans--graphic,electronic,ormechanical. includingphotocopying,recording,orinformation storage-and-retrievalsystems--withoutthewritten permissionofthepublisher. PrintedInUSA 23456789/131211100908070605 Cool Retro Action Poses 56 TRADITIONALVS.RETROACTIONPOSES 57 INTROVERTEDPOSES 58 THEMEGAPUNCH 59 FLYING 60 THERETRO“TAKE” 61 MOREACTIONPOSES 62 THEEPIPHANY 63 The Retro Family Pet 64 THECARTOONDOG 64 PUPPYDOGEYES 65 Introduction: Lets Go Retro! 4 COMMONHOUSEHOLDDOGBREEDS 66 MUTTS 69 Retro Basics CATSASPETS 70 6 BASICCATHEADSHAPES 71 THERETROHEAD 6 THESIAMESECAT 72 MOREHEADSHAPES 9 SURLYCAT 73 ENLARGINGTHEUPPERJAW 10 BIRDSASPETS:POPULARTYPES 74 DRAWING“FLAT”CHARACTERS 11 TROPICALFISHANDAQUARIUMPETS 75 EYES 12 Cool Retro Teenagers LIPS 14 76 FACIALEXPRESSIONS 15 RETROBODIES 18 SERIOUSTEENAGEBOY 76 PROPORTIONS 22 CAREFREETEEN 77 BTHOEDYIDSEIAZELIZ2E3DCARTOONFIGURE:TRADITIONALVS.RETRO 24 PSRTYETLTISYHTTEEEENN 7789 THENECKANDSHOULDERS 26 COOLCAT 80 BUILDINGTHEBODYSECTIONBYSECTION 27 HANGIN’ATTHEMALL 81 “MOLDING”THETORSO 28 LOOSEY-GOOSEYTEEN 82 TTRFEHHEETEETRAFOET3MTH3RAAALNCEDTSTIVOER32SFOEMA29LEFIGURESTEPBYSTEP 30 TSTPBCOHHAHSEESTOIGRCUOEIRTRLBEELESENLCNE8EA7NX8GET6EDSO8T4OARNDI8N3GPOSTURE 88 The Retro Family POSEANDEMOTION 89 34 Pretty Retro Women THESUBURBANDAD 35 90 HOMEONTHERANGE:THEBARBECUE 36 THEFACE 90 ADAD,ABATHROBE,ANDACUPOFCOFFEE 37 THEVOLUPTUOUSFEMALEFIGURE 92 DADSWITHGLASSES 38 MIDRIFFSANDLOW-CUTPANTS 93 MOREDADSHAPES 39 COOLCHICK 94 THEPERSISTENCEOFDAD 40 CAN’TBUYMELOVE 95 THEBASICRETROMOM 41 NOTESONDRAWINGATTRACTIVEPOSES 96 MOMHEADPROPORTIONS 42 PRIMITIVEBEAUTY 97 DANGER—MOMATTEMPTINGTOBECOOL 43 PERKYMOM 44 Cool Retro Scenes 98 SHOPAROUNDTHECLOCK 45 WALK-ABOUTMOM 46 NO,YOUGOFIRST 98 THESADISTICOLDERSISTER 47 SECRETAGENTCHICK 100 YOUARESODEAD! 48 GALACTICMEDALOFVALOR 102 DOLLSANDPAJAMAS 49 SHH!SECRETMISSION 104 THEBRINGEROFBADCHEER 50 JEWELTHIEF 106 THEKNOW-IT-ALLSISTER 51 MYHERO! 107 EVILATHOME,EVILINCLASS 52 HEREMONSTER,MONSTER 108 THEYOUNGERBROTHER 53 BYEFORNOW:ACLOSINGNOTEFROMCHRISHART 111 MOREBOYS 54 Index RETROKIDSANDSPORTS 55 112 t's everywhere you look, in animated cartooning on the planet. Retro-style animated television shows and comic books. It's TV shows have completely stolen the thunder the new retro style. What is retro? It's the of hand-drawn, animated feature films. While biggest thing to come along in cartooning the popularity of the hand-drawn, realistic style in decades. It's a style of illustration of animated movies has waned, retro cartoons loosely based on the animated TV shows of are proliferating all over television. And even the late 1950s and early 1960s—a time when the most heroic comic book characters and bad everything had a flat, graphic look, and the guys have been redrawn by publishers and sly humor didn't play down to children. studios into modern, retro versions. But retro 5 Retro is also based on character types-- is about more than just style; it's also about character types influenced by the popular laughs. It's truly wacky stuff. The characters are family sitcoms of the early to mid-'60s, when quirky, perky, and just a little bit warped. Their everything looked nice on the surface: brownies break-neck pacing and hysterical characters are and milk, moms in the kitchen, and fathers who generating legions of fans of all ages. never yelled. Yet there was always lurking a This book is packed to the brim with easy-to- sense that these families were too good to be follow, step-by-step instructions and loads of true and were repressing some truly bizarre special hints. Anyone, at any level, can benefit personalities and behaviors. Add a modern and can improve his or her skills by using this look, bring those bizarre personalities to the book. You'll be shown how to create retro-style surface, ratchet up the pace to a fever pitch, heads and bodies from basic shapes, making it and you've got retro. As a cartoonist, you owe easy and fun. You'll learn how to create the it to yourself to stay current and learn how to basic cast of characters that make up the draw this growing, popular new style. bizarre retro family unit, including retro pets. Interestingly, some of the retro-style You'll learn how to caricature action poses in drawing principles are the exact opposite the unique, retro style, with examples that of the principles used for drawing traditional compare the new way to the traditional way of cartoons. For example, retro-style action poses cartooning. Retro facial expressions and body are drawn so that the figures seem to conserve language are illustrated clearly and in detail. energy rather than expend it (which would be And at the end of the book, you'll be guided the look of a more traditional cartoon). through an exciting section on how to draw Retro characters are so nerdy they're cool. scenes with multiple characters. Are you ready? The retro style is, in fact, the coolest style of Let's go retro! I believe in drawing the fun stuff right out of the box. So, we're going to begin with the basic retro head. As you go along, there'll be lots of special hints throughout the book to help you understand the principles of character design and to provide you with options for creating variations on a theme. Simple shapes are the key to creating today's "new retro" look, and there's no shape simpler than a circle. It's perfectly symmetrical and has no sides. But pay close attention—I'm definitely not talking about the old- fashioned, start-with-a-circle approach to cartooning. I'm talking about a self- Drawathinneckthat'sso consciously round cartoon, in which skinnyitwouldneverreally the shape of the circle is not just the supporttheweightofthat starting point but the whole point.To head.Exaggerationisthe emphasize the circle further in the keytocartoonhumor. front view, don't open up the circle at the chin as it crosses the neck; keep it a closed loop. Tilttheeyes,intandem,tooneside.This isacartoonist'strickthataddsmorezing tothecharacter.Bigirises(thecolored partsoftheeyes)arethefavoredlook inRetroland.Thenoseistinyandpetite, lettingtheoversizedeyesdominateby wayofcontrast.And,thelipsarefull andcurvy—acaricatureoffemalelips. Thehairstyleshouldneverbecarefree ornaturallookinginretrocartoons. Instead,itshouldlookstiff,notsoft. Nowdrawsmall,darkpupilsinside theirises.Theeyelashesshouldlook likelittlespikesthatcouldkill (whichmakesthemfunny).Andyou canaddstriationstotheinteriorof thehairstyle,togiveitmoreflair. The oval is also a popular shape for retro characters. Notice that the oval shape is Startwiththeoval tiltedonitsaxis. the dominant feature of this figure. Thetiltgivesthe posemoreenergy. Theeyeisquite oversized,whichis apopulartraitin retro-stylecartoons. 7 Indent the forehead lipdetail Noticehowbigthehairis— anotherretrotrademark.Also, youcan'tkeeptheoutlineofthe ovalcompletelyclosedintheside viewbecausethere'snochinto obscuretheneck.So,openitup whereitattachestotheneck. Now let's modify the basic shape a bit more so that it's somewhere between an egg shape and an upside-down teardrop shape.This is a common shape for teenagers of about 14 years of age.The face is still round but shows signs of elongation, especially in the jaw and chin.Yet the face is somewhat soft, as shown by its rounded sides. Keepthefeaturessimple, big,andclear,withno subtlety.Eliminateall facialcreases—youdon't Startwiththebasicshape. needthem,andtheytake Notethatboys'necksget awayfromthecleanlook thickerastheygrow. ofthecharacter.Theears stickoutconspicuouslyon retrocharacterssothat Sketchinguidelines. they'refunnylooking! (Onlyoneearshowsin thisangle,though.) 8 Addthehair, andthicken theeyebrows. Here's another character with a crystal-clear shape for her head. Not even her chin, cheek, or hairline Retrocartoonsarebasedmoreondesign creates so much as a bump principlesandlessondrawingprinciples. in the outline of the head, It'slikefittingtogethercoolpartstocreate which is a simple oval. It's asnappycharacter.Sometimesartiststry a very pleasing look.The todotoomuchwiththeirdrawings.boless, eye is drawn to simple notmore.Concentrateontheoverallshapes, shapes. notontheinteriorfeatures. Any basic shape can be turned into a retro- type cartoon character. Give these three a try. Thebackof hisheadisa continuation ofthejawline. Jazzupbasichead shapesonfemale characterswith creativeponytails. Theearsdrooponsullen 9 andglumcharacters.