{The cartooning process} 2. Fine sketches
Woofings and welcome back to my mini-series on how mum draws my cartoons!
Last time we looked at the materials mum uses, and the rough sketches she makes.
This time we’ll look at the next stage in the process: turning those rough sketches into finer sketches.
Step 2: Fine sketches
The purpose of the rough sketch was to make sure that everything fits onto the page in a pleasing way. But many aspects of the sketch are just too rough and need to be improved up. That’s what happens next.
Now, many of the things mum has to draw are things she’s never drawn before. That can be challenging! This is why she often does practice sketches.
Practice sketches
When mum has to draw something she’s never drawn before, first of all she finds reference drawings on the internet (Google Images is a great tool). Then mum practices sketching them, and adds her own touch, to make the sketch unique. Mum often draws pages and pages of practice sketches before working on the actual cartoon.
Mum’s practice sketches of a moo-moo (yes, there will be moo-moos in my next book!). Notice how she is practicing the body shapes and also the facial expressions. Mum also writes notes about what she likes and doesn’t like in the sketches.
Example of a fine sketch
Once mum is happy that she knows how to draw everything in the cartoon, she can get on with fining up the cartoon.
Here’s the rough sketch from last time, tidied up. Mum had never drawn a person swimming before so she found reference photographs to help her draw that.
Step 2 of the cartooning process for Minnie The Westie cartoons: the fine sketch.
The cartoon is looking much more presentable now! But the hand-drawing isn’t over. The next job will be for mum to ink the outline in a black pen, so that it’s suitable for scanning onto the compawter.
We’ll look at the outlining and inking stage next time.
Do come back and see how the cartoon takes shape!
Love ‘n’ licks,
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