How To Draw Simple Comic Strip

Would you similar to exist able to draw your ain cartoon strip?

We're all familiar with classic comic strips such every bit Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes, and we may fifty-fifty have pinned examples of them upwardly on your refrigerator or at piece of work - in the instance of Dilbert.

You may accept your own personal favourite that you've been following for ages and have gotten to know the characters quite well.

Maybe you've fancied drawing your ain i, but take been put off by thought that information technology's too hard or takes as well much fourth dimension. It certainly more circuitous than drawing a single one-off gag cartoon, merely at that place's no demand to be put off.

No fright!

What if cartoon your ain strip cartoon turned out to be not as much hassle as you initially thought?

This guide volition break information technology downwards and have you through all the stages you demand to create your own cartoon.

If you get the chance, you're encouraged to draw along as you lot read this article.

Whenever you see a 'over to you' heading, that'southward your cue to call back, brand notes or doodle.

It's more effective to exercise this as you read along, as you lot tin try it out on the spot. Nosotros often read things and intend to return to them afterward only for life to get in the way.

There volition be some handy free tips/key points every bit we proceed

Meet Gerald the Goat

To look at comic strips, we're going to enlist the aid of Gerald the Caprine animal and Stan.

I've been drawing the Gerald the Goat strip for a couple of years at present. I'k going to use some examples from information technology to illustrate this article.

What is a strip cartoon?

Start, before we go started creating, what exactly is a strip cartoon?

A strip drawing is a short series of panels, usually three or 4, that communicate a brief story -usually ending with a punch line.

Most strips have recurring characters and some feature an underlying storyline that continues from strip to strip.

Every bit the readers learn more than about the characters lives as the story develops over time, a strong bail develops between them.

Readers frequently accept their favourite drawing strip and the connectedness they take to it tin spread over years in the case of a long running strip.

Can connect with and develop a strong bond betwixt the characters and the readers. The readers get to know more and more near the characters over time, as the story continues.

A strip cartoon doesn't have to be overly humorous. Fred Basset is a practiced example of a strip that has a very gentle sense of humour, and relies more on observation of the dog and his family's lives, rather than potent gags

Let's keep it simple at first

First of all, let'southward go along it unproblematic by creating a one-off strip cartoon. They'll be some suggestions for developing your characters and storylines subsequently on.

When creating a strip, the start thing to think up is the setting, and and then put to together a cast of characters.

Alternatively you lot could create a singled-out character and then piece of work out what location/setting they inhabit.

Settings

Pop settings include:

-Kids life (Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts)

-Piece of work (Dilbert)

Over to you:

Think of three possible settings for your drawing.

Characters

With any drawing you lot need some characters. You'll need at least at to the lowest degree two then that they tin interact with each other.

Let'southward look at some common pairings.

Garfield: Garfield (pet) and Jon (owner)

Peanuts: Snoopy (pet) and Charlie Brown (owner)

Over to you:

Tin can you retrieve upward whatsoever other pairings?

Here are a few:

-Dominate and co-workers

-boyfriend and girlfriend

-cat and canis familiaris

But I can't draw!

You lot may exist thinking, this is nice but I tin can't describe.

Well, what exercise y'all hateful 'I can't describe?'

I find that when people say that they tin can't draw, 'can't' tin mean a bunch of things from 'tin't find ane terminate of a pencil from another' to 'I'm non every bit skillful every bit a professional cartoonist'. I'chiliad guessing that if yous've constitute this article then at least you know how to depict a little bit.

You don't have to exist a not bad artist to produce a strip cartoon.

You don't have to reinvent the wheel here - there's plenty of room for another cat or dog cartoon.

Too, nosotros're non aiming for perfection to dazzling artwork here - we're simply aiming to innovate you to the wonderful world of strip cartoons.

Utilise personal experience to create a graphic symbol pair

You could try using your own personal experience to come up with some ideas for characters.

Practise you lot accept a pet of your own?

Do you work in an office?

Do you have a particular hobby or interest?

Only putter!

If you can't come with any ideas for a potential character, only start doodle lots and lots of simple characters and see where that leads.

If one in particular strikes, then putter lots of variants of information technology until one sticks.

Coming upward with stories

Now that you have a couple of characters we have to retrieve up a story for them.

Let'due south think of some mutual situations for the character.

But first, let me mention…

The thought muscle

One of the key features of this commodity is the idea of the 'idea muscle'. Thinking upwardly ideas is similar building muscles, it takes some skill and application, only the more you do information technology the meliorate you lot go.

This process is not necessarily easy, just as when you outset exercise of any sort, however information technology is not supposed to exist a hard slog either. If yous put in a little time and do the some of the exercises consistently you lot'll start to see results.

Mindmap

Let'south try a mindmap featuring Gerald. I wrote down any particular ideas or situations associated with him that came to mind. It dosen't matter whether they're skillful ideas at this betoken, the most important thing is to write them down. Don't pause to think for too long!

You tin can cull one of the ideas and do a new heed map to brand it fifty-fifty more focused.

Over to you:

Try out your own mindmap featuring your grapheme. Call back don't suspension for thought - write down whatsoever comes to mind.

Create a character profile

Another really proficient way to become to know your grapheme is to create a profile/avatar for them.

Here is an instance featuring Gerald

Name: Gerald the caprine animal

Where does he/she live?: Stan' garden (well, he's supposed to anyway...)

What does he practice? Eats things...almost anything, especially people's flower beds...

What does he similar? Eating, butting people

What does he dislike? The bull

Describe personality in a sentence: Gerald is a little bit of anarchy in caprine animal-class.

Here'due south a blank contour you lot tin use. Experience free to add additional information, and to add as much detail as you similar. The more than detail you lot add together the more richer character you'll create - and the meliorate you'll get to know them

Name:

Where does he/she live?

What does he/she do?

What does he/she similar?

What does he/she dislike?

Describe his/her personality in a judgement:

Get started

The about important thing about trying to create to strip cartoon is to only get started. Endeavor doodling lots of characters and meet which ones appeal to you.

1 way to force yourself to practice this, is to gear up a timer for a couple of minutes and putter as many dissimilar characters every bit you can during that time. Y'all can set yourself a theme if you lot want to narrow it downwardly, such as animals or children.

Drawing characters

Subsequently you lot've created your character, try making a few notes most their appearance to assistance you for future reference.

Practice cartoon your characters

In a cartoon strip the characters appear from panel to console, and strip to strip, and then it's important that the characters always look the same to maintain this sense of continuity.

Start to practice drawing your characters again and again in the same pose. Commencement off past cartoon a side profile, equally that's the more useful to draw when having the characters talking with another character

If you're working with a drawing tablet, you might exist wondering why you don't simply copy and paste the characters. Drawing the characters helps to build the muscle memory and then that you can draw them at will afterward on. This volition also help when you try to draw the characters in new poses,

as you will take an instinctive idea of how the characters proportions should look fifty-fifty y'all've previously fatigued them a lot.

Over to y'all:

Choose an existing character or ane you generated from the before exercise. Practice drawing them a bunch of times like the examples featuring Gerald and Stan higher up.

Expressions and Mannerisms

Imagine your characters carrying out conversations with each other, or thinking nearly dissimilar events. You could even try putting yourself into one of the characters shoes and joining in the chat itself. Remember of this as playful, rather than dizzy.

Try mean solar day-dreaming and putting yourself into the characters shoes. Imagine what you might do if you lot were in their identify.

Everyday life

Popular cartoons that work well are commonly the ones that comment on everyday life and people's habits and quirks - i.due east. matter that we are already very familiar with. Y'all don't have to recall of anything too exotic. Fifty-fifty if you lot take an exotic setting, you lot tin even so have the characters commenting on the everyday nature of that exotic setting.

Other situations

What other every twenty-four hours situations tin can yous think up?

They might include: catching a train, waiting in a queue, getting wet in the rain etc.

Just putter!

If yous can't come with whatever ideas, get-go doodling your characters in funny situations and encounter what ideas that might spark. Don't forget that a drawing gives you a licence to exaggerate the characters and their setting.

Collect dissimilar situations to use

Every bit you keep drawing your characters you'll come across situations that can be recycled and used again and again. In the case of Gerald the goat, this would include his attempts to consume flower beds, running away from the bull etc.

You lot can keep a annotation of these situations and bring them out from time to time if you are stuck for ideas.

Make a list of questions about your character

Here are a few examples featuring Gerald the caprine animal.

-What does he want to eat?

-How is he going to get the food?

-What might stop him from getting the food?

-what might happen after he gets the nutrient?

Everyday life

Pop cartoons that piece of work well are usually the ones that comment on everyday life and people's habits and quirks - i.eastward. affair that we are already very familiar with. You don't have to think of anything too exotic. Even if you have an exotic setting, you lot can however have the characters commenting on the everyday nature of that exotic setting.

Opening panel method

This is a fashion to get started on a strip when we haven't even so got an idea for the catastrophe. Depict a situation with one or more characters in the first panel and what comes to mind for the residual of the strip.

Closing frame method

This is the reverse of the starting frame method. This time you lot trying to call up of the gag or dial line last and then work backwards to think upwardly the rest of the drawing.

Centre frame method

For this 1 draw something happening in the center frame and run across if that sparks any ideas for either the punchline or the opening.

Layout

Composition

The composition of your cartoon is how your arrange your characters, any props and the setting throughout the strip. It'due south important to think most how clear the composition is, as if it is muddle so it makes it hard for your reader to understand what is going on or what the gag is.

A reader merely scans the cartoon with their eyes for a cursory moment, and volition just spend a couple of seconds trying to work out what is going on in the cartoon. So you have to make sure that the composition of your drawing gets the idea across to the reader immediately.

Try to convey a lot of data with the minimum corporeality of lines and particular

Don't go distracted

Don't worry at offset about what size you should describe the strip. Draw your characters and their setting at whatever size experience comfortable for you. Y'all tin can experiment with the size of the strip later on.

Be careful not to spend too much time over particulars such every bit what equipment to use or how the cartoon finally finally look when polished. This tin distract away form the most important job of all - to start drawing your cartoon.

To add:

background

colour

frames

Make certain your character's eyes are looking in the right management.

Settings

The setting for your characters tin can be simple - the most important thing is to set the scene speedily and then that your readers know what is going on.

Backgrounds demand to give enough detail to assistance fix the story, but not too much so every bit to distract from the characters and the story.

Foreground, mid-footing, groundwork

How you position characters within the frames changes the message and the feel of the story.

To re-write:

The foreground tends to lead the viewer into the picture and conveniently frames the setting with a window-similar purlieus that assist focus. Near of the drawing'due south action, dialogue and interaction reside in the midground. It is as well where a full, objective overview of the setting can exist fabricated. The background establishes the setting by anchoring its features. The placement of the horizon line here determines calibration, depth and perspective, unifying all the elements of the picture and ensuring that their juxtaposition makes sense.

The important signal near drawing the setting is to merely include what is necessary to tell the story.

We are and then familiar with a range of surroundings - our homes, offices, shops and streets - that information technology does not crave many everyday objects to set a scene.

As long as your readers already know the context of the cartoon, then yous don't demand to include so much detail

A squiggle could stand for a row of copse, rectangles with some simple markings evidence a row of buildings, a TV shows a living room, some elementary desks an role.

Call up about what the minimum number of clues y'all need to gear up the scene.

As you draw everyday objects, add together them to your reference library. You can refer to them again and again in the time to come.

Lettering/oral communication bubbles

We read dialogue from left to right or top to bottom.

Words and pictures work together

In any sort of cartoon, words and pictures work together to get the idea or gag across, and shouldn't be considered separately.

A grapheme'south facial expression speaks as much equally the words that come out of information technology.

Before you kickoff drawing your first cartoon, take the script drafted out and some rough sketches for each frame

Do your lettering first, and then draw the oral communication or thought bubble around information technology.

It doesn't matter whether you handwrite your own lettering or use the lettering in an app such Procreate or Sketches.

Be careful not to cram besides much writing into one bubble.

Different fonts tin really modify the tone of the cartoon.

The more text yous have, the less space bachelor for the art - and vice versa.

Experiment with using different fonts, font sizes, placing the text is different places within the frame.

Try many different ones until you come with a style that suits you.

Let your lettering jiff

Make sure to go out some infinite betwixt your lettering and the surrounding speech/idea bubble so that information technology is easy to read.

Don't write too many words in the chimera, every bit it can become besides crowded and difficult to read.

Draft your speech bubbles, the same mode you lot'd draft a drawing. Expect over your writing and see if there are any unnecessary words you lot could remove. Don't e'er settle for the starting time version.

To rewrite:

'A' begins the conversation every bit his speech is at the top of the frame. At the end of the judgement, the eye naturally flows to the 2d bubble belonging to the other character. The first speaker's second bubble is joined to the starting time past a path dispelling the need for ii pointers heading for one head.

Expression through bubbles

Speech bubbles can be made more dramatic with jagged edges

It may be necessary for a grapheme to make a longer speech and you may wish to. Prefer a device for constructive splitting to let the grapheme and the reader a break.

Continuing your strip

How can I keep the strip going?

It tin be quite a daunting idea, trying to maintain a cartoon strip. Yet, with a little planning in that location'southward not reason for this to exist the instance.

Information technology's good to have a ready process in hand/system to follow to ensure that you turn your strip on a weekly footing or even so oft you want to produce information technology.

How can I go along creating new ideas?

As you get to know your characters and their world more and more than you'll find that they take on a life of their own and ideas will start to appear automatically. This doesn't always mean that it will be easy to come upward with ideas, only some ideas volition present themselves of their ain accord.

Once y'all get a practiced idea for a story arc, then plots will come from that that you can utilise in individual strips.

How tin I make information technology more efficient?

I recall that it'south very useful to plan out your story line in advance

There tin can exist some reoccurring story lines. Gerald has to have a bath, Gerald attempting to break into the annual garden testify etc.

Get to know your characters

As the creator of the strip, you should get to know all of your characters actually well. Unless you know your characters intimately and they come alive for you - there's not manner they'll be able to come live for your readers.

Story arcs

*As a cartoon strip is commonly a series of ongoing stories, how can you lot generate some ideas for stories that will produce lots of ideas for individual strips?

What could exist the footing of an ongoing story?

Permit's await at an instance.

A leopard has escaped from the zoo.

What are some ideas that could course the basis of individual strips?

-the leopard tres to grab Gerald

-Gerald has to escape from the leopard

-Gerald has to hide from the leopard

-Gerald tries to reason with the Leopard

-Rex the police canis familiaris (a supporting character talks with the leopard)

-Gerald tries to capture the leopard

-Gerald fails to capture the leopard - and the subsequent consequence

-Someone else captures the leopard

-The leopard is captured

-the leopard goes dorsum to the zoo

-Gerald visits the leopard in the zoo.

Over to you

What I've for your characters could produce a good story?

Here are a few ideas:

-someone going on a blind appointment

-a new person joining the role

-a new pet joining the family

-a dog wants to play

-it'southward a really rainy day

Creating a bandage of characters

Over to you:

Build up a reference library

To help make drawing your strip more than efficient in the future, collect unlike backgrounds that you can re use grade time to fourth dimension. This also applies to everyday objects likewise.

Source: http://www.everyonelovescartoons.com/blog/Howtodrawastripcartoon

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