Get Real!

SUPERHERO STORIES, SCIENCE FICTION and fantasy tales combine elements of reality with humor and make-believe. A somewhat more realistic approach is often called for to make these yarns seem plausible. This is a little bit more complicated than other types of cartooning, because basic knowledge of anatomy and perspective is required. Some practice at life drawing can come in very handy.

Head Start

A good way to get started in this arena is by drawing faces—handsome faces, evil faces, scared faces, happy faces. Faces are a lot of fun to draw, and it’s important to do them well, as cartooning relies heavily on closeups. Try using a photo-graph for reference. Study it for the basic pose, and trace or copy it. Animators often make a live ...

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