How to draw cartoon characters

Introduction:

Being able to draw cartoon characters is a fun skill to possess. It means you can illustrate stories, draw fun things for the kids, or just have some impressive doodles. The following is a brief instruction of how to draw cartoons.

Difficulty rating:
Easy

Steps:

Step one:

Decide what kind of cartoon you want, it can be a sad cartoon, a clumsy cartoon, a funny cartoon etc. It is important to give your cartoon a personality or persona before you ever start drawing so that you can draw it accordingly. For example, a big muscular guy usually is not very clumsy, where as a small stick like figure with knobby knees looks clumsy. So decide personality traits to start.

Step two:

Draw basic shapes for the outline of the body. If you want to have a fat cartoon start with a big circle, maybe draw two rectangles for legs, and boxes for boxy feet. You can do a pudgy square for the neck, and a large circle for a head. If you want someone who is evil or sinister try using lot s of triangles, sharp angles usually indicate evil or sinister.

Step three:

Start to add some detail. You are going to use the basic shapes for your outline of the body, but just as that, now it is time to connect things, and add some detail. You can add a waistline, or connect the legs to the feet with some ankles, etc. Just start to connect the shapes.

Step four:

Add clothes and accessories. Now that your shape is determined you can start adding the clothes to your character. You will want to dress them in the correct persona, and you will want to add funny accessories, big glasses, a hand bag that is huge or tiny, a hat, etc.

Step five:

Put in the facial features. Cartoon characters always have very distinct facial features. So, add big eyes, a large nose, a twinkle for mischievousness, etc. it is up to you to better develop the persona of your cartoon character with great facial features.

Step six:

Erase unnecessary lines. Your basic shapes outline is important, but once you have the detailed stuff in you should go back and get rid of the lines of the shapes that are not being used in the final product. So, get a good eraser and be careful. Then go back over and add more detail to cover up some of the erasure marks.

Step seven:

Add color. Cartoons can be black and white, but there is something to adding color. So, add color to your cartoon character to better personify it and make it more enjoyable to look at. Use whatever coloring instruments you want, but remember reds are bold, pastels are for shy characters, etc. Use the right kinds of colors for what you are drawing.

Tips and warnings:
There are a lot of cartoons out there so be unique and do not follow someone else's idea too closely or you lose your awe factor.

Get a good paper quality to draw on so that when you erase you do not rip your paper up.

When you draw your basic shape outline, draw it light so that you do not have to work really hard to erase it later.

Have fun and try different personality characteristics for each cartoon you draw.

Things you will need:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Crayons
• Colored pencils
• Paint
• Chalks
• A ruler