Cartooning - Generating Ideas Through Cartoon Brainstorming

Cartooning - Generating Ideas Through Cartoon Brainstorming
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Ken_Nelson]Ken Nelson

Without question, the number one question every aspiring cartoonist asks is, "Where do you get your ideas?" The thought seems to be that there is some secret method, that only the professional cartoonists are aware of, that provides an endless stream of cartoon ideas. Not true. In fact, the hardest part of the job, and the part that the most successful of us has learned to cultivate, is the process of generating ideas. Once you master the art of the Cartooning Brainstorm, you will have a generous array of ideas at your pencil-tip.

While there are no quick -and-easy 3-step methods for conducting a Cartooning Brainstorm session of your own, there are a few principles to keep in mind as you begin your cartooning career.

Practice, Practice, Practice

The only way you'll get good at anything is to practice doing it. This is true whether you're playing sports, learning and instrument, or developing your career as a cartoonist. You must keep at it day in and day out. Sitting down and focusing on coming up with funny ideas is the basis for your career and it will get easier with practice. To shamelessly borrow an old Nike slogan, "Just Do It".

Carry a Sketchpad at all Times

Your sketchpad is your lifeline to the cartooning world. Carry it with you and take advantage of those down times in your day when you are doing nothing and could do something productive. "What down times?" you may be asking. True, we're all busy - too busy in fact - but there are times during the day when you can steal a few minutes to write or sketch. In a doctor's waiting room, in line at the grocery store, at a stop light, in a theater waiting for the movie to start - point is, there are many opportunities during the day and week to make the most of your time.

Be Observant

Consider yourself a life reporter and record everything that interests you. It doesn't even have to be funny; that will come later. Write down and consider everything that you find funny, interesting, odd, shocking, etc. Record those weird thoughts that float through your mind, and don't try to edit yourself at this point - just observe and record. Later you will use these observations to spark your brainstorming sessions.

Consume Lots of Brain Food

Along the same lines as the previous point, you need to feed your brain. Educate yourself! Study different topics, take notes, make illustrations. Turn your TV watching into an educational endeavor by keeping your sketchpad handy to capture anything that interests you. Maybe that documentary featuring two African tribes beating the bejesus out of each other with sticks will result in a classic cartoon, and maybe it won't, but you will have turned an hour of passive TV viewing into a productive educational experience. If nothing else, just developing the habit of creative curiosity will pay dividends.

Take these tips and apply them. Then, when you're ready to come up with ideas, sit down with your sketchpad and start brainstorming. Set aside a time of quiet uninteruption and start moving your pencil around on the paper. Go back through your notes and observations and start connecting things together. See if anything strikes you as funny. If it does, run with it!

Ken Nelson is a freelance writer and cartoonist. He markets his unique brand of humor at the Flogwear site where anybody can purchase t-shirts, mugs, aprons, calendars, and many other items printed with his cartoons and writings. http://www.cafepress.com/flogwear

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http://www.aaacaricatures.com

Creating custom comic books and comic art

I’ve been creating custom comic books and comic art since I was in kindergarten.
I remember my first trip to the comic book stores, and purchasing my first comic book,
it was a Batman and Robin. My collection topped 5,000 books at one point.
I started drawing the characters creating my own comicbooks. It was fun to create my own original characters and stories.
Many characters I started collecting have been turned into comic book movies.
The Spiderman Movie franchise is one of the highest grossing films as of today.
The comic book community is always demanding popular books to be made into films.
Most of the comic book value today is based on the popularity of the character. Comic book characters such as Spider-Man, Superman and Batman will command a greater price since they are more collectable. The age of the book is also a factor. First appearances can also be valued higher as well. Original art such as comic book paintings for covers can be quite expensive. A good way to collect cover art is to purchase comic book prints of covers, these can be signed by the original artist. Comic book posters are an inexpensive way to collect art as well. Some people will have a framed comic book displayed on the wall, creating their own comic book gallery.
Comic book sketches are an alternative because these can cost a lot less than full blown inked art. Many of these are comic pencil art, quick sketches by the artist in order to work out ideas for stories.
The collected works of artists such as Neal Adams, John Buscema, or John Romita can be found in a sketch book art journal.
You can purchase these comic sketch art drawings at an online comic book store or a local comic book store. Comic book news publications publish many original art dealers. A comic book sale can have original and published art. Comic book illustration can be computer generated as well. Comic book illustrations by major artists have more value than a new artist on the scene.
Steve Nyman can create custom comic book art for you. Starting from a rough sketch to finished color art. Steve has been creating original art for 25 years.
Visit Steve's Website

Pencil Sketches of Faces

Pencil Sketches of Faces
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Darren_WK_Chow]Darren WK Chow

Why is drawing faces such a great challenge for so many artists? We know we have the image in our head, and often times in our hands in the form of a photo, but we just can't capture it on paper with our pencils.

Have that ever happened to you before? You start drawing a face to find that when you're done, it's nowhere near the person that you're trying to draw?

The problem is that all faces are a unique combination of a set of features. When we take these features apart, we see that there are hundred and one different features. We all have different lips, different noses, different eyes, different ears, different hair, and different face shapes.

And when all these different features come together, it makes the task more difficult for the artist to capture the visual resemblence on paper.

Also, we have to take note of the age of the face that we're drawing. If you're drawing babies, the best time to draw them is when their asleep. Because you can't have them moving around when you draw them.

When drawing babies, keep the drawing simple with few lines and only capture the features of the face.

If you're drawing a child, the features are more defined compared to those of a baby. So you'll have to lock in the features with stronger and darker lines. But the skin is still smooth and gentle. Try not to add to many lines to the face of a child.

Teenagers are young adults. You may approach drawing the face of a teenager in the same way as you would approach drawing the face of an adult. The key to drawing a mature face is to capture the essence of the face.

That means capturing the personality of the face. Some people have a confident look. Some have a shy look, and some have a mischievous look and so on. Try to capture that in your drawing.

Finally, remember not to draw all your faces to look like hollywood stars. Human beings do not look like plastic in real life. So keep your drawings realistic by including any details that make your drawing look more human.

Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study courses, and other drawing related resources.
For more free resources like the one you've just read, please visit [http://www.myartpassion.com]MyArtPassion.com for [http://www.myartpassion.com]free online drawing lessons.

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Anime vs Manga

Anime vs Manga
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Wills]Andrew Wills

If you are a magna fan and reading up on the latest anime and manga releases and the history of the subject, you will find there has been a lot of confusion between anime and manga. Oftentimes, fans will ask others on forums or on blogs or in chat rooms what the difference is. But this is like having the blind lead the blind in most cases.

There are experts who visit these sites and can answer questions intelligently, but since they do not usually leave links to back up their claims, it can be unclear if what they say is true or if they are really experts. If you go to an online encyclopedia, you often find so much information to wade through with so many big words, it's hard to fully make sense of it all.

Suffice it to say that manga means Japanese comic books, or in other words, those drawn-on-paper cartoons originating in Japan. Similar to the American comics with Superman and Spiderman, these comics were often made into different series and are still produced in quantity. Anime is animation, or you could say, the animated versions of manga.

Any animation actually needs to start out as a cartoon drawing of some kind. Manga artists create the characters and story line, then their drawings are made into animated film. The animation process is long and detailed, and takes a number of talented people to bring off the final product. The artists who originally create the character, his personality and the scene where the action takes place play a large part in the production of the anime.

Sometimes, besides the creator of the manga itself, studios take the artwork and make the backgrounds and other details with the labors of other animators. These drawings are combined and photographed or scanned as one piece, making an entire scene with the character, extras and the sights of a modern city or whatever is being portrayed. Thus anime is created.

Rumko Takahashi created the popular series, Inuyasha and Ranma ½. She does the original drawings and assists in the animation process along with other artists in the studio that produce the final anime. And so it is with many manga-kas (manga writers).

Which came first, manga or anime? That is easy to answer in studying the history of cartoon drawing. In Japan, the most famous manga artists were in production in the 1940s, for they were producing cartoons regarding the World War in progress at the time. That doesn't mean there weren't other cartoonists prior to this time. Certainly there were.

In the U.S., comics were in vogue early on. As early as the late 1700s, Benjamin Franklin started the first editorial cartoon. This soon expanded to the longer comic strips, the first of which was drawn by Richard Outcault in 1895. Then in the 1930s there were the debuts of such heroes as Superman and Batman.

The author is the Admin of the [http://www.animemine.com]Anime Friends Network site AnimeMine, where you can meet new friends and discuss your favorite anime and manga subjects. This article can also be found at our [http://www.smarticlesmart.com]free article directory Smarticlesmart

For more anime information please go to AnimeMine.com today. For more free articles please try Smarticlesmart.com.

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Top 20 Animation Movies - What Makes Them Tick?

Top 20 Animation Movies - What Makes Them Tick?By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Aldric_Chang]Aldric Chang
Being in the animation industry, it is in my interest to keep abreast of which animated feature films are taking the most box office profits. Today I run by this list of the top 20 highest grossing animation movies of all time and I would like to share my views on why I think these movies did as well as they did. They will make up my recommended recipe for an animated feature box office hit.

Shrek 2 (3D) - $436,471,036

Finding Nemo (3D) - 339,714,978

The Lion King (2D) - 328,539,505

Shrek the Third (3D) - $322,719,944

Shrek (3D) - 267,665,011

The Incredibles (3D) - 261,657,004

Monsters, Inc. (3D) - 255,870,172

Toy Story 2 (3D) - $245,852,179

Cars (3D) - $244,082,982

Aladdin (2D) - 217,350,219

Ratatouille (3D) - $206,445,654

Happy Feet (3D) - $198,000,317

Ice Age: Meltdown (3D) - $195,330,621

Madagascar (3D) - $193,595,521

Toy Story (3D) - $191,780,865

The Simpsons Movie (2D) - $183,135,014

The Polar Express (3D) - $179,100,434

Ice Age (3D) - 176,387,405

Beauty and the Beast (2D) - $171,350,553

Tarzan (2D) - $171,091,819
Shrek - Top of the Crop
Shrek 2 takes the lead as you can see from the list. In fact, the Shrek trilogy takes the 1st, 4th and 5th positions, all in the top 5 positions. This is a very impressive feat and in my opinion, Shrek took the cake because the stories were really good and the gags were good. Of course it helped a lot that 4 major stars were casted - Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas and Mike Myers. In fact, of the Shrek trilogy, I enjoyed Shrek 2 the most, so personally I am not surprised that it performed the best out of the three.
3D versus 2D
From the list below, we can see that 3D movies take 15 of the spots, in comparison with its 2D counterparts that take only 5 seats. It would seem from this statistic that the audience is favoring 3D animation to 2D animation. Even 2D/3D fusion shows like Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Treasure Planet did not seem to please them enough. It would seem that The Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and Tarzen are only in the top 20 positions because of their strong family-orientated storylines and classic branding. The Simpsons Movie benefited basically through a huge fan base through its TV series. Barring such unique franchises, it would appear that a 3D show would trounce a 2D one any day. The animation studios seem to be echoing this sentiment as the quantity of 2D animated features produced has dwindled drastically in recent years.
A Strong Storyline
This is probably not new to you, but I will say it anyway. I think that one of the most important factors that will drive an animated feature would be a strong and compelling storyline. In fact I would go as far as to say that if you forgo everything else, you must have a great story to tell! Every single movie on the list tells an interesting story (well almost) and they all did well enough to make it to top twenty.
Laughter, the Best Medicine
People like to laugh. They like to laugh at others. They like to laugh at themselves. They just like to laugh. All things constant, I think Shrek takes three of the top five positions because of their gags and original jokes. And do not forget the two maestros of comedy - Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy - who performed the voiceovers for Shrek and Donkey respectively. How can you beat that lethal duo?
A Strong Voiceover Cast
It is a fact that a star-studded cast for the voiceovers is a crowd-puller, especially when the celebrities are well-liked and great performers. Again, refer to Shrek's cast. With Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, how can the movie go wrong?
The Importance of Recognizable Characters within the Show
This is just my theory, but I strongly believe that besides having a strong storyline, animated features should also showcase recognizable characters. And when I say recognizable characters, I don't mean plain human characters. I mean monsters. I mean animals. I mean super heroes. With characters that are more interesting than humans, they are instantly more recognizable. Look at the list closely. Besides a couple of the old 2D movies, which other movie had a cast that only had plain old human beings for its lead? Having interesting and identifiable characters will most definitely attract ticket sales because people want to pay to watch interesting characters in an animated feature, not plain old human being! I don't have to remind you again what a flop Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within was, do I?
My Personal Favourites
In case you are wondering, my personal favorites are Monster Inc, The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Shrek 2 and Ice Age in that order. My reason? They all have strong and compelling storylines. And I put them in this order according to how much I enjoyed each individual movie. I must say that Monster Inc gave me the best enjoyment factor!
Conclusion
So here's my recommended recipe for a animated feature box office success:

The movie must be done in 3D

It must have a compelling story to tell

Inject lots of humor into the show

Get a strong cast to be your voiceover talents

The character designs must be interesting and memorable

I hope that this article has been an interesting read. Please visit my websites to read more of my articles or simply to check out what I am doing.
Click [http://www.media-freaks.com/mediafreaks-optin.html]here to receive a free report describing how some businesses are using [http://www.media-freaks.com/character-licensing.html]cartoon characters to sell their products cum services and increase their revenue!
This article was contributed by Aldric Chang - a creative businessman who is active in music composing and production, internet marketing, casual games production, animation production, cartoon production and character licensing. He's currently intent on growing his already successful [http://www.media-freaks.com]animation company into a behemoth entertainment enterprise.
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3 Top Cartoon Drawing Tips For Beginners

3 Top Cartoon Drawing Tips For BeginnersBy [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Tapan_Sarkar]Tapan Sarkar
Cartooning is not about drawing it is about telling stories. Yes, even when you are drawing a single illustration you are telling a story. Cartooning is about expressing your thoughts. And it is your thoughts expressed beautifully through your cartoon characters that make you different from other average cartoon makers.
But as in every other field of life here also you must learn to walk first before you try running. To express your thoughts and ideas through your cartoon characters, you need to master the skill of cartoon drawing first. Then of course you can use your cartoon drawing skills to tell story to your liking.
To be skilled in cartoon drawing you have to face a learning curve. You just can’t decide to be a cartoonist then copy some popular cartoon figures and become an accomplished cartoonist who is rich and famous. If you are lucky and talented with keen sense of observation you may pickup one or two tricks by making copy of popular cartoon figures. But that is too inadequate to be of any use.
There are various ways that you can take to learn cartoon drawing --you can join cartooning school or take a home study course or follow a book of an expert cartoonist -- the bottom line is you have to follow the steps. Like you should first teach yourself drawing 3d shapes, then learn to stretch, squash those 3d shapes in your drawing. Next you need to practice things like drawing hands and head before moving on to motion and emotion and advanced things like that.
If it sounds like lot of work, you are right. But what you achieve at the end is worth working for. If you are smart however you can use the tips you are going to discover here to make the whole learning process fast and painless.
1. ==> Do not start with computers. I agree I run the risk of sounding backdated. But here I am not opposing usage of computer altogether, no sane person can do that. But for beginners there is no alternative to using paper and pencil.
There are various software that help you so much that you can go ahead even without learning how to draw a smooth line. This kind of over dependency on computers from the very beginning always backfires down the road.
2. ==> Nail the fact in your mind that construction of human, animal, cars and most of the things that that we see around us are complex 3d structures though we draw them on paper which is 2D. So when drawing you must mentally analyze your model in terms of 3d shapes like spheres and boxes and not in terms of 2d shapes like circles and rectangles.
Also when you draw something from paper (i.e. 2D), look for and find out the 3d shapes that make up the character.
3. ==> Most of the cartoon drawing or figure drawing tutorials always start with some basic 3d shapes and after a number of steps end up in a complete and beautiful figure. This technique is very effective in learning how we can draw complex figures starting with simple shapes. But what I am going to tell you will make your pace of learning even faster. It is in fact very simple way of using the same tutorial. Just a lot more effective.
What you need to do is start where the tutorial ends and go backward from there. See the completed figure and try to recognize the ingredient basic shapes. And compare your analysis with the exact shapes that are used in the tutorial.
This will give you a very through exercise in recognizing the basic shapes. And after some time you will be analyzing the real life around you like an expert. Just take your time and practice this technique, and see how fast it will improve your skill in cartoon drawing.
Cartoon drawing is pure fun both for professionals who earn their living through cartooning and hobbyists who draw cartoon only for personal pleasure. I do not know what you goal is but hope the tips here will be helpful for you. Never stop learning: there are a whole lot to learn and even more fun to have in the process. Happy journey!
Do you know what the beginners find most difficult in cartoon drawing? It is drawing the head and face. Check this simple [http://pwrinfo.com/cartoon-drawing-course/head-drawing-tutorial.htm style=color: blue; text-decoration: underline; text-underline: single]tutorial on head drawing and never be nervous again.
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Original Ideas for Wedding Gifts

Original Ideas for Wedding Gifts
And Wedding Party Entertainment.
A unique wedding idea is to have a cartoon artist draw sketches we call wedding caricature.
Caricatures as gifts are custom cartoon drawings that are hand drawn by a caricaturist.
Wedding caricatures are an original cartoon caricature art sketch. Caricatures for weddings are a great gift idea and fun party entertainment.
In addition a party artist entertaining is a wonderful wedding surprise to your party guests.
Caricaturists can create wonderful pencil sketch drawings. These quick sketch comical cartoon portraits take as little as 5minutes per person. Party caricature drawings are wedding favor gift caricatures and caricature entertainment.
One creative idea is to use a caricaturist for a wedding invitation. We can draw the bride and groom in caricature form.
Wedding invitations can be created any way you desire and are custom artwork.
Custom wedding invitations can be created quite reasonably.
An artist can provide you with wedding invitations advice.
Go to different printers and view their wedding invitations samples.
We can create quick wedding invitations for any bride’s budget.
Using caricature art creates creative wedding invitations that your guests will remember.
Caricature art is much more fun then going with photo wedding invitations.
You can buy wedding invitations from a printer, but why go with traditional wedding invitations.
Caricatures make affordable wedding invitations. We create wedding invitations with fast service.
I suggest using black and white wedding invitations over color. The caricatures look more traditional in black and white.
When it comes to wedding invitation advice, remember to use caricaturists, we have many ideas to help you with your party planning.
You can have an artist create custom wedding guest books with a personalized caricature.
We can also create custom caricature portraits for a wedding signature board. A wedding caricature sign in poster is a 20” x30” poster caricature illustration hand drawn from photos. These posters are drawings from photos and run $350.00 plus shipping. We can provide service with an online caricature. This saves you shipping as well as speeds up service. A digital caricature is provided in the PDF, jpg format. Caricatures for a wedding board also make great wedding keepsakes. You can also hire a cartoon caricaturist to draw the wedding couple for a wedding gift. Color caricature gifts are very reasonably priced and start at only $50.00 for the couple.
We can draw a family caricature for presentation as a caricature gift starting at only $25.00 per person in the picture. A caricature from photo can be drawn as a gag gift.
And having a caricature artist sketch can be in addition to wedding photos. Because caricature pictures are wedding party entertainment and a Wedding party favor. Some of your guests will feel like a celebrity at your wedding. A celebrity caricature they received at your event. Framed on the wall, their caricature is a permanent remembrance of your wedding party.
A party caricaturist can draw at your wedding or other types of events. We provide Caricatures for wedding entertainment in the New York City Area.
We have NJ Caricature Artists, NY Caricature Artists, PA Caricature Artists, and CT Caricature Artists.
We can also provide Party Caricature Entertainment nationwide call for rates 973-586-0790.
Gift Caricatures from photos can be done through the mail or online. You can also make payment at www.paypal.com to my email address gazoo1234@aol.com .
Visit my web-site http://www.aaacaricatures.com.