Hello,

I’m so glad you’ve begun my homeschool cartooning class. Below you’ll find the items I talk about on the DVD. If you have any problems or questions about the class feel free to email me at familyman@familymanweb.com

Keep drawing!!!

 

Lesson ONE

– Roll of 12 inch tracing paper or regular letter sized white paper

– A pencil

– Two Sharpie markers (Ultra Fine Point and Fine Point)

– Printable single panel guide

Lesson TWO

Your assignment – Draw, Draw, Draw. 

– play around with characters. Exaggerate noses, eyes, hair, feet…and then exaggerate them a little more…and then a LITTLE MORE!!!

– Now try it with men and women (boys and girls)

– In the same way try it with a cat, a dog, a tree, and a toaster!!!

*** Don’t forget to use the 7in. X 7in. guide. single panel guide

– Practice drawing the different types of speaking balloons (see below)

Speaking Balloon Examples >

Balloon Tails

If at all possible, a balloon tail should point to a character’s mouth as if an invisible line continued on past the end of the tail to their face. Pointing it in the general area of the character, (their hand, leg, etc.,) should be avoided if possible.

Burst Balloons (Shout Balloons)

Burst Balloons are used when someone is screaming their dialogue. They tend to be more irregular and chaotic than a normal balloon, perhaps with a heavier stroke. Burst balloon dialogue is often bold with certain words enlarged or underlined for even more emphasis.

Butting Balloons (Top-lining, Side-lining)

This is the best weapon in your arsenal to combat space restraints. Essentially, some part of a balloon is cropped flat and placed against the border. Useful when you have a lot of talking and not a lot of room.

Thought Balloons

Thought balloons are for reading minds. Text in a thought balloon can be italicized. The tail on a thought balloon is made up of smaller bubbles and should point towards a character’s head (not mouth, as in standard balloon tails). Generally you should have at least three little bubbles of decreasing size that reach toward the character.

Whispering Balloons

Traditionally, whispered dialogue is indicated by a balloon with a dashed stroke…and smaller lower case letters.

**Taken from Blambot.com

Lesson THREE

* Printable single panel guide

Real Life Examples of filling the frame –

Look at the photos below. Can you turn them into a comics? What do you need to tell the story? What don’t you need?

Example #1 – This would make a great cartoon. Two dads sitting on the couch having a tea party. You don’t need to show their feet, any of the background, or even pillows on the couch. What you do show is the dads on the couch (one wearing an exaggerated princess crown) and a table with some girly tea party “stuff” on the table. What would they be saying? Try making it into a cartoon.

Example #2 – For this “shot” you don’t need any back ground (you can hardly even see it in this photo). Nothing needs to be drawn below the waist. A couple of text bubbles ( and maybe a thought cloud) and you’ve got yourself a cartoon. In fact, it looks like only one person is talking the other guy has his mouth shut…as though he’s guilty of whatever he’s being accused of. Try turning it into a cartoon.

Example #3 – Notice in all three shots how the backgrounds are blurred. That’s because the background isn’t necessary to tell the story.In a comic the back ground wound’t be blurred but left un-drawn. In this “story” all you need is the upper half of a mom and a daughter…and maybe the chair backs and table top so you can tell they’re sitting down. A few simple hand gestures and you know what’s taking place. Actually looks like a typical day of homeschooling…but the mom looks a little too happy.  See if you can make this into a comic with some text bubbles.

Lesson FOUR

Lettering example

 

Hey, I’d love to see one of your final cartoons. Send it to me at familyman@familymanweb.com