Mark Linley - How to Draw Cartoons and Caricatures

By the same author

How to Draw Anything

by

Mark Linley

Constable & Robinson Ltd

5556 Russell Square

London WC1B 4HP

www.constablerobinson.com

First published in the UK 1999 under the title How to Cartoon or Caricature Anyone. This edition published by Right Way, an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2013

Copyright Mark Linley, 1999 and 2013

The right of Mark Linley to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-0-7160-2351-7
eISBN: 978-0-7160-2350-0

Printed and bound in the EU

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Dedication

To all my friends, bless them.

Acknowledgements

Drawings by Pat Finn: .

Drawings by John Ball:

.

Drawings by Colin Henderson:

.

All the other pictures are by the author.

Welcome to my new cartoon and caricature book. The fact that you want to draw cartoons makes you quite special. Why? Because you belong to a group of people who have the ability to raise a smile or prompt a laugh in others. In our modern stressful world humour is golden. There just isnt enough to go round. The best medicine in the world is laughter.

One of the many joys of being a cartoonist is knowing that someone somewhere has had their day brightened by a tiny bit of magic which you have created. You are embarking on a worthwhile project, chum. I shall help you to do your job and to enjoy it.

You already know that your first aim is to make people smile if not explode with a belly-laugh of huge proportions or collapse in a helpless shrieking heap!

Your next target is to produce cartoon drawings which are funny. How do you do this? Read on, then try to draw all the assignments in this book. By doing the exercises you will quickly improve your observation and drawing skills. You will widen the range of your drawing ability and become a pretty good all-round artist. Isnt that good news?

You will find almost all drawings in this book have help lines. No matter how raw a talent you have or how little sketching experience has come your way you will quickly pick up the essential parts of being a good cartoonist. You should also learn how to use your imagination which is a vital quality needed by all artists, writers and creative people. You can learn many tricks of the trade from these pages. Above all aim to enjoy learning and practising as much as I love teaching.

1. You are very special.

The cost of art materials which you will need is relatively small; much less than the expense of most other hobbies or pastimes. While it always pays to shop around do not be tempted to buy the cheapest products as these might work against you.

You will need good quality paper. You should buy typing or computer paper 85 or 90 g/m in weight. This is best purchased in reams (500) sheets. This may sound like a lot of paper but dont worry you can fill ten pieces with cartoons in less than 20 minutes!

2. Different pens for different lines.

To illustrate my books I use black fibre-tipped drawing pens size 01 and 07. See calligraphy pens. Dont be afraid to try out many different sorts and brands of pen. If possible go for pens which are colour fast or waterproof, but to begin with any old black pen which produces a clean line would do. We each have our favourite pens.

Right, thats your main weapon sorted out. You will also need a 2B drawing pencil. This is a fairly soft pencil. Along with this buy a medium hard eraser and a craft knife or blade with which to sharpen your pencils.

A small watercolour paint brush size 4 or 5 would come in handy for blocking in large areas such as black hair, black clothes and so on. A small bottle of black drawing ink should keep you going for months and months. A little bottle of Process White is a good thing to have. This is thick white paint which is useful for correcting small mistakes.

Later on when you have gained experience you may want to have your own lay figure, but I will mention more about these drawing aids in .

To be successful in most projects you have to think positively. This can be very easy to do. Always think and say that you CAN learn to do. Never ever think that you cant; thats negative. Why does positive thinking work like magic? Because in your brain is a sub-conscious mind which is often faster and smarter than the most up-to-date computer. In fact, it is a super personal computer. How do you program this essential tool? Simply by the way you think. If, for example, you think that you can do something, then you will. Your computer likes to receive messages as pictures so you should send one of yourself achieving exactly what you want. Isnt that simple?

Your computer will also work just as fast against you if you think a negative thought which it also takes as an instruction. Mind how you think, chum.

It could be that you come across a problem which you feel you cannot solve. Ninety-nine out of every hundred people faced with this situation immediately think I cant when what they really mean is I dont know how to.

The hardest part of becoming positive about all things in your life is to abandon all negative thoughts. For some folk this is tough because they have tended to think negatively all their lives. But this should not happen to you. You have me to help you along the right path. Dont mind me being a rather bossy teacher or you might get your hands smacked!

Now that your self-confidence has risen quicker than a bad dose of wind you are ready to start.

3. Doodle ovals, then turn them into faces.

as examples. Copy these cartoons.

4. Oval doodles can produce figures.

Doodles can produce the most surprising creations. I did a rough doodle of a girl. She was pretty but her looks, it seemed to me, were off-set by the pair of huge boots she wore. My doodle was changed from a rough sketch into a cartoon creation which was named Super Doodle. She appeared in an .