Thousands Can Draw Cartoons Who Have Never Even Tried -- Vintage "How to Draw Cartoons" Ad

Thousands Can Draw Cartoons Who Have Never Even Tried

"Why work at drudgery when through a remarkable new method you can easily learn at home in spare time to draw cartoons that sell?"

"Many are earning pitifully small salaries who could make wonderful salaries in cartooning."

This is my favorite part:

"Just watch a cartoonist work. A few little lines -- a couple of simple curves --a splash of black here and there -- and then you see a splendid cartoon before you."

Ad ripped from Popular Mechanics via Google Books.

New Sergio Aragonés Book -- 50 years of Mad Cartoons in a 272-page Hardcover

Brand new BIG collection of Sergio Aragonés cartoons from MAD Magazine: "Sergio Aragones - Five Decades of His Finest Works." Yippee!

http://amzn.to/avjgbl

For the first time (since 1979's Sergio Aragones on Parade), here is a “greatest hits” collection of one of MAD’s most popular and prolific artists—Sergio Aragonés—hand-picked by the artist and featuring his greatest work from his debut with MAD in 1963 to the present. Assembled chronologically, it’s packed with 272 pages of cartoons,interviews, and a special pull-out poster of Sergio’s “Marginals,” the wildly popular mini-cartoons that have appeared in MAD’s margins for over 40 years.

Just arrived today at Amazon.com!

http://amzn.to/avjgbl

How to Draw Cartoons the "Old-School Way" by animator Bill Nolan

Another one to file under, "How in the world did I miss this?" Our pals at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive scanned in this 24-page "how-to-draw" book by animation pioneer William C. Nolan.

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Media: Bill Nolan's Cartooning Self Taught

I just love the giant hands on all these characters, reminding me of Bud Fisher's Mutt& Jeff, Elzie C. Segar's Thimble Theater (Popeye) and George Herriman's Stumble Inn. It's kinda strange how different decades have different cartooning styles. I wouldn't mind at all if this old-timey "bigfoot" style started to make a comeback!


This book is a quick survey of the most basic building blocks of how to draw cartoon characters: There are different mini lessons on how to draw the head, hands, feet, full figures, action poses, animals and kids. Like a lot of books of this type, it doesn't go into great detail, but it's fun for what it is! It looks like all the text from the book has been re-typed in captions underneath the scans, which makes it a lot easier to read than scanned type. Thanks, Steve!

You can check out the whole set of scans over at the AHAA. They're unfortunately not very big scans, but if you're ever in the Burbank area, the Archive is open to the public on Tuesdays thru Fridays. When you arrive, just ask Stephen Worth and I'm sure he'll let you page thru the entire thing!

ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive: Media: Bill Nolan's Cartooning Self Taught

No Worries...by Dan Moynihan

Looking at Dan Moynihan's drawings makes me feel like a little kid again. His playful doodles have a happy childlike quality that reminds me of PD Eastman, Quentin Blake and my ol'pal Craig Bartlett. But of course, he's totally got his own thing goin'!

Anyway, I just had to share this with everybody because it's so darn good!

check out Dan Moynihan's cartoons, comics and illustrations at
http://danmoynihan.blogspot.com/
"No Worries" Illustration at:
http://danmoynihan.blogspot.com/2009/07/switch-360-flip-over-new-gorge.html

How to Breathe Life into Your Artwork

Recently, I've had the pleasure of being a guest on a couple really cool podcasts. The first one is called The Idiot Engine, a very in-depth examination of creating comics, the philosophy of art, and self-publishing. My old pal Ted Seko has been hosting this show for quite a while, and it always makes for great listening.

The topic of this show is, "how to breathe life into your artwork."

http://paperengine.blogspot.com/2010/04/idiot-engine-episode-27-how-do-you.html

Ted and I talk about all the things that have worked for us during the course of our cartooning careers.

I guess this is pretty normal for podcasts, but the conversation steers off-topic a number of times for some interesting rabbit trails into the minds of the couple of guys that draw to live and live to draw.

Looking Over Roy Crane’s Shoulder While He Draws a “Wash Tubbs” Strip

Very cool 1938 newspaper article (via Google News archives) on my favorite cartoonist, Roy Crane. Roy Crane pretty much invented the adventure comic strip, and his lively drawings and storytelling were the main influence on cartoonists such as Harvey Kurtzman, Charles Schulz, Wally Wood and John Severin.
from  Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Nov 25, 1938 

If you’ve never seen all the scanned newspapers in the Google News archives, click on one of the images above and start exploring! I can’t even describe all the treasures you can find ^_^ Have fun!
More on cartoonist Roy Crane

How to Draw Cartoons the Old-Time Way! Instructional Cartooning Book from 1920's

Take a look at this wonderful little book on cartooning techniques by cartoonist B. "Tack" Knight. Tack's Cartoon Tips for the Aspiring Professional!

In just twenty-nine pages he teaches aspiring professional artists how to draw cartoons the way they were done in the old-fashioned style of 1923!

Some of the pages are corny and not very useful today, but MOST of this book features rock-solid cartooning tips for learning how to draw in that old big-foot print cartoon style.


12 Mini Chapters on the Art of Cartooning:

• How to draw HANDS (this page is a winner!)
• Hats, Shoes, Wrinkles (as in clothes and drapery)
• Lessons on drawing KIDS and ANIMALS
• Drawing various cartoon facial Expressions
• How to draw BACKGROUNDS
• and even a bit on Cartoon Lettering

Warning: there's some very politically-incorrect caricature material in here. What people thought was funny back then just makes people mad today. Don't say I didn't warn you!

To read all these cartooning tips as a slideshow, (I think it's easiest to read it this way), click on:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidblog/sets/72157603310750480/show/

Thanks to Dave Blog for sharing these scans on his Flickr page: Tack's Cartoon Tips for the Aspiring Professional!

More Vintage Articles on Cartooning and Animation

A few days ago I posted about the Modern Mechanix magazine archive -- a nifty treasure chest of vintage magazine articles about cartoons. “How Comic Cartoons Make Fortunes” was just the start of the goodies…There are a lot more where that one came from!

Real Scenery for Popeye…all about the Fleischer Studios and their 3-d rotating sets

These articles from magazines such as Popular Mechanics, Popular Science and Modern Mechanix give a perspective on the art and industry of animation and cartooning that really shows how excited people were about cartoons and the advancements in animation during the early twentieth century.

Sound Tricks of Mickey Mouse… a look at the Walt Disney Studios groundbreaking work in sound cartoons

Making of a Funny…a look at the production process of Bringing Up Father by George McManus

What Makes Mickey Mouse Move?

How Disney Combines Living Actors with His Cartoon Characters

Nutty Inventions Paid Me a Million by Rube Goldberg

The Making of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

All of these articles are scanned and posted in multiple resolutions, so you can read them on screen or download high-resolution images to print or look at later!

If you missed that post about the 1933 feature, “How Comic Cartoons Make Fortunes,” from the Modern Mechanix blog, just click on the image below…

1933: How Comic Cartoons Make Fortunes – Vintage Magazine Scans

The Modern Mechanix blog reprints many great illustrated articles from the 1930’s and 40’s. One of my favorites is this look at Depression-era income opportunities in cartooning and animation!

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/04/19/how-comic-cartoons-make-fortunes/

Click on any of the thumbnails below
to open up a crisp and clear high-resolution scan

 

ALL of these pages are available to download at SUPER-SIZE over at
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/04/19/how-comic-cartoons-make-fortunes/

  

…and aside from the great article, check out all the beautiful advertisements on these pages.

PS…there are MANY more articles on cartoons and cartooning and animation at the Modern Mechanix blog. Just click HERE to jump right over!

Charlton Guide to Making Comics - Super-Rare 1973 Premium is now Scanned

The Groovy Agent at Diversions of the Groovy Kind comic book blog has generously shared his scans from the impossible-to-find, 1973 "The Comic Book Guide for the Artist - Writer - Letterer" from Charlton Comics!

In addition to 36 pages of scans,
you can also download an easy-to-print PDF of the whole thing!

Just go to:
http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-make-comics-charlton-way.html

The Groovy Agent has included a lot of background information on this rare and insightful peek into the production process of 1970's Charlton comic books. I've been wanting to find a copy of this for years, so I'm really excited that Groovy has made this available!

PS...

While you're there, check out this scan
of an AMAZING Creepy magazine story drawn by Alex Toth ---

Draw Comics - Here's How! A Complete Book on Cartooning by George Leonard Carlson

Old-School Cartoonist George Carlson shares the wealth of his cartooning skills! Here are the first few pages of his 1933 cartooning course,

Draw Comics! Here's How

by George Leonard Carlson

How to begin and what to use...

How to Draw Cartoons With Pen and Ink

How to Resize Drawings with an Old-School Pantograph

There's an excellent overview of the life and work of cartoonist George Carlson HERE:
http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/carlson.htm

Some George Carlson comic book scans at:

http://cartoonsnap.blogspot.com/2008/07/george-carlson-fantastical-comics-pie.html

Of course, there's a LOT more pages to this book...I'll keep scanning and posting them -- so keep your eyes peeled for the next installment of George Carlson's Classic Cartooning Course!

Gangsters, Gunsels, Crooks, Cops and...Hitler! Willard Mullin Draws Some Amazing Characters

If you want to learn how to draw people in lively dynamic poses...even regular folks doing everyday things..you can't do better than to study these amazing drawings of civilians by legendary sports cartoonist Willard Mullin.

Click any image for a ridiculously HUGE high-resolution scan

As you can see from previous posts on Willard Mullin (see links at bottom), he was the master at drawing sports cartoons that had a breakneck and electrified sense of life. But it wasn't just athletes that received this treatment...Willard Mullin could infuse even the most mundane activity with the breath of life.

These scans are the last batch from the book, "It Beats Working."

The previous sets of boxing, baseball, football and horse-racing cartoons from the same book are linked at the bottom of this post.

great silhouettes, leading the eye, line of action, nothing is horizontal or vertical, beautifully unbalanced balance
Previous posts on Willard Mullin:

Willard Mullin on Boxing

Willard Mullin on Baseball &Football

Willard Mullin on Horse Racing

You'll find lots more links when you see those posts, too!