Kartoon Kubism

Now I’ll be the first to admit that I only have a superficial understanding of Cubism or abstract art but the cartoonist in me likes it because it’s funny.
Picasso is pretty funny.


Juan Gris is not as funny but he has great color and design sense.


Of course every cartoonist knows Miro is the funniest. 
 



Anyway I always liked this stuff even though I'm no expert on fine art.

 I think it’s because as a kid I was so fascinated by the early Hanna Barbera style which didn’t make logical visual sense but was fun to look at.

 ...like how Fred's mouth and hair looked the same from the front as it did from the side.

 What if they took it further - Like having his mouth appear from different directions from each angle?

 

 Or how Yogi's eye (only 1 of them) went in front of his hat.

 

It’s fun and easy to do because the abstraction is already inherent in the (Ed Benedict) designs.

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I have a tougher time abstracting more constructed characters like Looney Tunes.

I tried the other day. First I started with just trying to exaggerate the characters - as opposed to abstracting them.

Even that is hard to do because Bob Clampett already exaggerated them to such extremes.

 

Then I began to transition from mere caricatures to more abstracted deconstructed designs.

 

 This is about the best I've been able to come up with so far. Still a ways to go.

My own characters are kind of a blend of old style construction and abstraction.

 

 But even these can be pushed farther into bad dreams.

Ernie Models To Print

 These have some general tips that can apply to all characters...see the labels for general construction of faces and how to use space and organic forms.

Some of these drawings may look anarchic but they still have to obey some general drawing principles in order to be effective.

One of the hardest concepts my artists have to learn is to make funny asymmetrical drawings - that still look like they are wrapped in flesh and stuffed with cartilage and teeth.

Many cartoonists have been conditioned to believe that construction consists of perfectly even, symmetrical circles and ovals - all arranged on a mathematical grid. So when they translate gutsy storyboard or animation drawings to layout or cleanups, they tend to even everything out and make the characters look like flat robots - or traced model sheets.

Hopefully these tips might help avoid that.

A REALLY IMPORTANT CONCEPT TO REMEMBER: 

CHEEKS, SMILE AND EYES 

ARE ALL CONNECTED FORMS!

Your mouth smiles because the cheek squeezes and pulls it up. When it moves up it also can effect the bottom of the eye shapes. Almost everyone seems to have trouble grasping this. There should be a whole course in this in animation schools I think.

 

http://johnkcurriculum.blogspot.com/