Some people might wonder what the point is in copying the drawings of others. I'll tell you. It's so you can apply what you learned from the copies to your own drawings. It's not just so you can be good at copying.
Geneva has been studying the work of Harvey Eisenberg and copying his original poses and scenes.
She got very good at these straight copies so I suggested she go to the next step. ...to take one of those scenes and make up her own poses of the character within the same scene. Add some poses that suggest a continuity- a bit of story business.
So she used the same construction and line of action techniques from the Preston Blair lessons and created 2 original poses in sequence of the original scene.
HOW TO STAGE AND POSE CHARACTERS
The poses are well constructed, have clear silhouettes and seem to tell a story - even without dialogue. The fox here is listening for the splash of the character he just kicked into the well.
Then he runs off and seems to be saying" I know! Now I'll get some oil and pour it on the little bugger!"
Geneva is now doing what I call "functional drawings" - drawings that have a purpose and tell a story. That's what it's all about. It's the final goal. Once you are at that point you just continue to learn new things and keep adding them to your storytelling functional drawings and you get better and better.
She started her learning process by studying the basics and step by step learned how to use the principles of good cartooning and staging by copying the works of accomplished skilled cartoonists who really knew what they were doing.
Learning how others did stuff is a good way to propel yourself to the point where you can do good stuff.
http://johnkcurriculum.blogspot.com/
LEARN YOUR BASIC CARTOON TOOLS FIRST
I have seen many people become good at copying, but then never think to apply what they learned to their own drawings. Applying something from what you study tests you to see if you actually understood what you copied.
