Most cartoonists I know fear drawing crowds.
Crowds are hard to draw in these areas:
It's hard to compose a lot of characters together.
It takes more time for more characters.
It's hard to make each character have a different pose.
It's hard to design lots of different character designs.
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Most comic artists, even great ones like Jack Kirby tend to draw the same character over and over again in a crowd.
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Here's a dandy crowd of '
tudes with all the faces the same.
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Milt Gross has none of these problems!
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He draws crowds filled with different characters and with each one having their own faces, body shapes, and body attitudes.
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Look how each of these top hatted fellows have a similar angle-but not exactly parallel. They are a group and individuals all at the same time.
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This whole group has a single silhouette. They together make a single fun shape. Yet each character is an individual and s on a slightly different angle.
HIERARCHY OF FORMS- The specific details obey the general idea
Gross is a master of
hierarchy. His individuals contribute to a group form.
Just like details on a face follow the construction of a cartoon face.
The specific parts obey the general idea.
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All these snooty folks have a haughty demeanor, yet none are exactly the same. A variety of individuals that fit a type.
Hierarchy, rather than anarchy!
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He has lots of different designs for women too.
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Milt Gross is the opposite of today's rubber stamp comic strip artists. The ones that use the same stiff poses and expressions over and over again.
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Look at the bustle of life.
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The lines of action of all the high society folks here all work together to create an organic group flow.
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I can't believe how many funny head shapes Gross concocts.
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SEE THE LATEST LOST GROSS COMICS:
http://www.animationarchive.org/2007/10/comics-fulfilling-milt-gross-challenge.html
TIPS ON DRAWING CROWDS
http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2006/11/composition-4-staging-groups-of.html