BACK TO BASICS

I have noticed that some of you are getting too caught up in trying to copy the style of my work in the tutorial (probably without realising it) rather than looking at the expression and pose and seeing it for what it is, just a simple pose. So  I  thought it might be  helpful for some of you to revisit some of the  basics in drawing the human face (some artists call this, cartooning the face), stripping it down to  very basic line work. 

There have been times when I have been drawing from reference material and I have not been able to see the wood for the trees. Sometimes trying to draw everything  that makes up the whole can render a drawing overworked , too cluttered or confusing and the best way to tackle it is to remove the clutter and strip things down to the very basic shapes or ideas. The can  be applied to machinery, landscapes, figure drawing and even something as simple as the human head. So I am posting a few images that have the notes written on them so you can download them and print them out , and not have to copy and paste all the words etc.

I appreciate that this may seem monotonous, but the more you practice , the better you will become. 

Have some fun exploring different expressions

If this is still  not working for you, step back even further to basic cartooning. Keep it simple. Notice how a simple line can create a look and convey a mood.

 When I get  script to storyboard I often draw rough scribbles in the side columns of the script or on some loose sheets. Below is an A5 sheet with some rough workings for frames for a script. Notice that that even though these are extremely rough, using very basic line work, they manage to capture action and expression. After producing a number of rough ideas for frames , I will decide which are the best angle for content  and drama etc. Many will end up in the bin, but that's ok, it's all part of the creative process.