Cartoon Art

 

Some characters I'm in the process of developing for a potential Animated Series I'm in currently developing.

The cat-like character was actually from a design I did waaaay back in 1998 for an article my college newspaper was running for a Cartoon Film Festival taking place in Savannah, Georgia.

 

My editor Alexander Fox wanted characters who vaguely looked like they could be famous cartoon characters... And what you see above is what I came up with.

I shall keep you posted on how the series progresses.

 

Have a talented kiddo? Sign them up for my Cartooning Class!!

Some very good instructors and very good friends seen in the image above.

The class is about a couple weeks away. But there is still time to sign them up for my sign them up for my  Saturday Cartooning Class for 8 to 10 year olds.

What you can expect from this class is ALL things cartoon. Funny animal, superheroes, pop art, character design, comic book art and comic strip art. I even throw in lessons on how to create drawn animation just for good measure.

Although I do incorporate lessons that teach students how to draw established cartoon characters, I try and encourage them to create their own original characters. Or if they DO have a character they created outside the class, I encourage them to work with that character on projects.

I'm even known to create characters on the spot for them to do a cartoon style story with. Some of the results I've found highly entertaining and even more inventive than I could have possibly imaged.

You can either stop by the Worcester Art Museum when an archaeological team finally unearth the roads from all the snow we got last night and today or you can sign them up by clicking on the link below:

Drawing For Cartoons 8-10 years

Classes can fill up quck so don't delay!!

Spring offerings at WAM

Obviously an older photo because when was the last time you remember Jim Davis ACTUALLY drawing Garfield?

Spring is just around the corner... well... my Spring Classes are just around the corner. This year I will be teaching a Saturday Morning Cartooning Class at the Worcester Art Museum for ages 8 to 10 years.

The class is students who are both new to drawing cartoons and those who draw cartoons all the time. It's also a great opportunity for students not only work with characters they have already created but also create new characters. The biggest thing I encourage students who take classes like mine, or Andy Fish's or Scott Nelson's cartooning classes is don't just think of these as characters to use just in the class. Create characters you can use outside of class.

And basically I'm going to go through ALL THINGS cartoon in this class. Comic strips, comic books and cartoon animation. We'll be doing it all!! Or at least all I can fit into eight weeks.

Click on the link to sign up today:

Drawing For Cartoons: 8-10 Years

Fall Classes at the Worcester Art Museum

My Fall Classes at the Worcester Art Museum are only a mere month away. And this Fall I am offering a Cartooning Class for 8 to 10 year olds in the morning and 11 to 13 year olds in the afternoon.

And I will be doing all things cartoon in these classes. Cartooning, comic book art, comic strips, tradition animation... you name it and I'll probably be teaching it.

Click on the link below (the course titles are clickable links) to choose the class you wish your child, teen or tween to sign up for today:

ART OF CARTOON: 8-10 YEAR OLDS

Code	Begins	Ends	Meets	Fee
12FYDRW404	10/06/2012	12/01/2012	Saturday from 10:00 AM to 12 N, 8 Sessions	190.00

CARTOONING: 11-13 YEAR OLDS

Code	Begins	Ends	Meets	Fee
12FYDRW501	10/06/2012	12/01/2012	Saturday from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM, 8 Sessions	190.00

Jim and Barb

For those of you unfamiliar with the exploits of Jim and Barb, they are characters from the Catchup Advisory Board commercial parody from A Prairie Home Companion.

The characters are played by Sue Scott and Tim Russell who are really the Mel Blanc's to Garrison Keillor's Jack Benny.

After doing a recreation of the Hank and his horse Seymour from the old Narragansett Beer Commericals I thought I would re-imagine Jim and Barb in that sort of art style made famous by people like Jay Ward and UPA Animation Studios in the 1950's and 1960's.

I drew the characters and outlined them with a brush pen. Then I added the gray tones on Photoshop. The bottle of ketchup was taken from a photo online and I added a Poster Edge effect on Photoshop as well as black border using the Layer tool.

Sort of to give it that xeroxed look they used with the Narragansett bottles in the commercials.

If you're unfamiliar with either the Prairie Home Companion radio show or the Catchup Advisory Board sketch, here's a clip of Sue Scott and Tim Russell performing it. I get a kick out of it every time I watch it.