Milt Stein - a perfect funny animal man

Here's a cartoonist I like a lot. He's a drawing textbook for all the cartoon skills and techniques I promote.
His basic style is generic 40s animation funny animal. He has all the principles that add up to that look almost perfectly. On top of that he has his own unique stylistic finish.
His most amazing skill is his ability to organize all the principles and design elements with a scene and balance them into a perfect organic and appealing design.
When you have this much hierarchy and visual coordination, you don't need to hide behind a bunch of cluttered details.

USING THE POSES AS PART OF THE COMPOSITION

I love the way he draws hands. They look like they are right out of the Preston Blair book, only drawn with more verve and contrast and design.
Hierarchy: The few details he uses always form around the larger object they help describe. Like the stripes on the cat wrapping around the position of his body, or the little dirt clumps that help describe the larger mound.

SECRETS OF HOW HIERARCHY WORKS

He draws really elegant simple compositions. I wish I had a bg artist who could do this!! Aargh!


Look at these beautiful dynamic action poses.

I love this cat. His stripes are so organic and gritty. Pure comic inking. I wish you could get that in animation drawings.


Such luscious inking!

Organic compositions: His backgrounds are made up of sub-elements that point in seemingly chaotic angles, yet they are all balanced against each other. They don't look wonky.

SECRETS OF COMPOSITION REVEALED

Everything he does has inherent form and a visual plan. I think the plan in his compositions is the most fun part of his art.

Hierarchy of thick and thin lines: The lines of the overall silhouettes are thicker than the details inside the forms. These bold lines help hold the characters together.




I like that rabbit's nipple ears.
Enjoy superb rare comics at Mykal's great blog!

MILT STEIN SUPERMOUSE COMICS

Little Iodine and The Cartoon Rule Of Starched Skirts

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I like this style. It's sort of a cross between Jimmy Hatlo and Chic Young.
Compared to animation of the same time period it's a bit stiff, but it has other attributes:
Great linework, interesting detail and a gritty man-on-the-street sort of outlook.
I like the perception of the world that many strip cartoonists had ( as opposed to Disney-influenced animation designers). They pictured everyone and everything as sort of ugly-funny, -even kids. Contemporary animation tended to have a very small handful of stock designs and kids were usually drawn in a Freddy Moore generic-cute style (like Harvey comics, who also published these Little Iodine comics). Animation had some notable exceptions to the cute kids rule, like the Hansel and Gretel characters in the Chuck Jones cartoon.
http://comicrazys.com/2011/05/02/little-iodine-mystery-of-the-crooked-stick-jimmy-hatlo/

Real Animation

Here is my favorite run cycle from a Clampett cartoon:

I think it's Scribner. It's interesting how awkward (and sloppy) the individual frames are as opposed to how magnificently smooth and powerful the motion is.

There are 6 drawings on ones for each step.

The rest of the scene is great too. Such amazing force!

Full Clip







You can buy this set of rare Snafu cartoons on Amazon. This is the best set there is. All the cartoons are in prime shape and unlike the older Snafu sets, the films are not cropped. The whole image is sharp and full screen. All the cartoons are from the top animators and directors of the mid 40s - when animation was at its height. A killer collection.

There is a really cool UPA cartoon on here too.

NO DVNR!! They look just like the films themselves. better restoration than the actual Warner Bros. Looney Tunes sets.