I found that it was a lot more difficult to draw hand shapes with the right hand than the left. There is definitely a challenge to drawing accurately what is perceived versus that which is interpreted into what is drawn. Most of these sketches are done with the right hand, because they are way easier with the left. I anticipate doing more hand sketches. It is one thing to copy a drawing, it is another to think the concept with no references available.

Here are some sketches from the Ken Hultgren book. I was able to purchase one online for eight bucks! It is obvious after studying it, that the Preston Blair book is based upon it, with the concepts and their order refined. The Hultgren book is based upon pen and ink techniques. Why should you acquire it? For all the cartoon character examples, for the inspiration. It was published in 1946, and the costumes the characters wear represent styles from 60 years ago. The hultgren book explores a lot of different concepts to animation, but not with a coherent strategy.

This exercise might be a little advanced for me, but I felt compelled to try, after being inspired by the example pictures. Comparing the source, I see that the dog needs a slightly bigger jaw and the distance between the two characters, I think is a little off. But they both look so mad they could spit! - I would add some saliva drips to this altercation.

I like the way the examples in the original edition of the Preston Blair Book present the concepts to me. I find them to be alluring and inspirational, and they are fun to draw. Like the second edition, the character drawings seem to me to be a lot more complex after detail examination. The way to truly learn these ideas is to draw them multiple times.

Looking over the First edition of the Preston Blair Book, I discovered the difference between the editions. For some reason I always pondered about some of the images, they seemed to not be drawn with the same level of enthusiasm. While some of the concepts are refine in addition two, some of the ideas seem more obvious with the original drawings of the original edition. Comparing the two editions and how the concepts are refined is a worth while endevour. I think I am going to spend a little bit more time drawing these ideas. All this exploring also led to the discovery of the Ken Hultgren book.

Stretch and Squash

Mouseover/MouseOut the graphic to view the animation sequence.

Through practice I am getting better at creating sequential art, but I don't like how the animation for the left eye and the nose turned out, a little bit too twitchy. The whole jaw movement seems to rock a little to the right as it opens... Upon further reflection, I realized that the reference character in the book is looking slightly to the right..

I started out with drawing the bird heads and decided to add the fox and dog heads to this exercise as well. I find my way of thinking about cartoon characters is changing because of these exercises. The hierarchical design structures are becoming much more predominate on the construct of the drawings. I wonder where these ideas will lead me?

Here are some developed wolf sketches. The eye shapes and the jowls are a little off.

Attempt #2

Mouseover the graphic to see it animate...
I used a light table and tracing for this practise.

Attempt #1

Mouseover the graphic to see it animate...
This was a daydream before it was a drawing.
My aspiration is for all the lines to sync.
Guess that's what the light table is for.

I am discovering things in this book I never saw before.

Its kind of amazing that I have had the book for years (hand me down from my sister) I never looked closely at the drawings, though I had used the walk exercises for computer animation cues. There are all sorts of faint construction lines in the example sketches which I barely noticed before.

I like to draw with both hands and find it a continued observation that my left hand is very reliable but has a hard time maintaining proportion, my right hand is weaker, more fumbly, but I can maintain proportions and relationships proper to the examples.