Is there any good source to learn how to create 2D cartoon-like graphics for games for beginners in visual arts as a whole? I know that "cartoon-like" is a broad term but I just wanted to highlight that I'm not looking for any realistic drawing lessons or anything like that. Is it even a sensible question or should learning reaistic drawing be step one regardless of the eventual style I'd like to achieve?
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Creating cartoon 2D graphics for a beginner?
Scott McCloud has a series of books called Understanding Comics, Reinventing Comics, and Making Comics - they're not about drawing but instead about what comic and cartoon art is, including how it is different from realistic art.
As far as actual drawing, mannequins (mannikins) are the first step of drawing people and animals. Basically you want to look at a photo of a person or animal and break the realistic image down into circular shapes, especially ovals and triangles. Lots of references for this kind of thing are available online - look at Deviant Art or Google Image Search. If you are more interested in drawing buildings or machines, that's a different approach, and you need to find an introduction to perspective drawing.
I think this quote is relevant:
As for resources, you can find a lot of cartoon drawing \ painting tutorials on DeviantArt. Here's a random bookmark I have:
http://loish.deviantart.com/art/tutorial-drawing-a-female-face-517588691
There's also a lot of reference on Pinterest (used by several artists):
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/character-design-references/
If you're willing to invest in education:
- http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/474/Character-Design-for-Animation-Part-1-with-Gil-Rimmer
- http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/347/Character-Design-Pipeline
I should point out that this is a practical, objective skill.
You won't improve substantially unless you pick up pencil & paper and start sketching (in parallel with your studies on theory).
From a thread on CGSociety: http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=7930220&postcount=2One of the most common misconceptions that beginner/intermediate artists have, is that they don't understand how important learning realism is for stylization.
All those Disney backgrounds that you love so much--did you know that all the artists who painted them could paint realistically very well, and all were accomplished traditional painters? The reason is very simple:
You won't know how to stylize something until you understand the original version the stylization is based on. Stylization is the art of taking something that is real, and then alter it by either simplifying, idealizing, or exaggerating it. So if you don't understand how the real version looks and works, then how would you how to stylize it effectively? You wouldn't know what elements to simiplify, to exaggerate, or idealize in order to create an interesting stylized version that has a compelling aesthetic sensibility.
(...)
As for resources, you can find a lot of cartoon drawing \ painting tutorials on DeviantArt. Here's a random bookmark I have:
http://loish.deviantart.com/art/tutorial-drawing-a-female-face-517588691
There's also a lot of reference on Pinterest (used by several artists):
https://www.pinterest.com/explore/character-design-references/
If you're willing to invest in education:
- http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/474/Character-Design-for-Animation-Part-1-with-Gil-Rimmer
- http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/store/product/347/Character-Design-Pipeline
I should point out that this is a practical, objective skill.
You won't improve substantially unless you pick up pencil & paper and start sketching (in parallel with your studies on theory).
Author
Thanks for the replies. In that case, I guess I'll just go realistic drawing first, probably with "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" - or has there been something new with comparable reputation in the past years?
It's not recent, but Loomis is my go-to guy for semi-realism. (I see no point in bothering with ultra-realism, because the difference is mainly realistic coloring and shading techniques along with the use of many tiny lines, neither of which will ever be used in a cartoon style later on.)
I think "Successful Drawing" by Andrew Loomis has almost all you need to start well with artistic drawing.
EDIT: His other book "Figure Drawing For All It's Worth" is also relevant if you're interested in learning human anatomy. It goes down to the bone \ muscle level, but from an artistic point of view (important visual landmarks etc.).
But being self taught will only take you so far.
You could safely say that anyone working professionally with art has been mentored at some point in their training, be it with art classes, a private tutor, coworkers or even online critiques from reputable artists.
Seeing the work of your peers (especially the ones that seem more skilled than you) will bring you back to reality and inspire you to improve.
EDIT: His other book "Figure Drawing For All It's Worth" is also relevant if you're interested in learning human anatomy. It goes down to the bone \ muscle level, but from an artistic point of view (important visual landmarks etc.).
But being self taught will only take you so far.
You could safely say that anyone working professionally with art has been mentored at some point in their training, be it with art classes, a private tutor, coworkers or even online critiques from reputable artists.
Seeing the work of your peers (especially the ones that seem more skilled than you) will bring you back to reality and inspire you to improve.
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