by Christopher Hart | Jun 24, 2014 | Ruminations
No doubt about it, “cute” is a favorite attribute of fans of cartoons and manga. It’s very important to be able to draw cute stuff; people love drawing cute characters. So, let’s get serious, for a moment, about cuteness! There are many techniques you can use to characters, such as drawing big eyes, big forehead, small mouths, wide cheeks, small chins, and so on. And I teach many of them in my book, “Cartoon Cute Animals”.
The most important technique is your gut feeling. Let yourself be guided by that part of your instinct that loves a puppy, or that melts when you see an adorable toddler. If your drawing doesn’t give you those warm feelings, try making another adjustment to it.
That’s the tip of the day!
by Christopher Hart | Jun 17, 2014 | Dragons, Tutorials
How to draw a Fantasy dragon classic pose.
Click the image to change to the next one in the series. Click Show Thumbnails to see small versions of all images.
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by Christopher Hart | Jun 16, 2014 | Ruminations
I just got to look at the finished, color pages from my book, “Cartoon Faces: How to Draw Faces, Features & Expressions,” which comes out this fall. I was thrilled with what the art director and editor came up with. Anyone who tells you that they don’t need an editor or art director is simply, well, how can I put this gently…? They think a lot of their abilities and too little of others. There is no book that a good editor can’t make better, and likewise for an illustrated book. At the same time, if there are changes requested, and you really believe that changing that part of your work would “de-prove” (the opposite of “improve”) your work, then you have to stand your ground – BUT – you must be willing to discuss your reasoning with your editor, and you must be willing to listen. Sometimes, your opinion won’t be changed. Other times, it may.
Often, if you’re creative, you can find a way to reach both of your goals. For example, your editor may make a good point that there are too many illustrations in a chapter, which are crowding out the text, and therefore, several of your favorite illustrations need to be cut. Rather than argue that those illustrations need to stay in the book, you might suggest that your editor cut pages from a less crucial chapter. This would give the editor new pages to add to the crucial chapter, making it long enough to spread out the illustrations without crowding the text. Win-win.
Inside publishing FYI: Color proofs are referred to as “The Gallies”.
by Christopher Hart | Jun 12, 2014 | Ruminations
Many aspiring artists, who love to draw – and who yearn to improve – become somewhat pessimistic about their progress because they don’t believe they have the innate talent to become good at drawing. This is the biggest myth about drawing. Really, how important is it to have talent?
Talent is an asset, to be sure. But talent alone cannot produce superior work unless it has three essential ingredients:
• The motivation to draw often
• The willingness to seek out and learn new drawing techniques
• And most importantly, having what I term as an “Editorial Eye”
If you have the three assets, listed above, you can become an excellent artist, with or without innate talent. If you have talent, but none of the attributes listed above, your art doesn’t improve.
So the question becomes, what is an “Editorial Eye”? It’s the ability to look at your art dispassionately, to recognize its flaws – as well as its strengths. It’s having the willingness – even the desire – to redraw your work in order to get it right. There’s an old saying for writers: “Writing is re-rewriting.” The same is true for artists, “Drawing is re-drawing”.
I’m here to encourage you to pursue your passion, you art, your dreams. You can do it. You really can. And always remember: You deserve to succeed.
by Christopher Hart | May 30, 2014 | Announcements
My publisher, Random House, finished doing a tally of all of my book sales, and it came to 6 million copies, with translations into 20 languages. After I picked myself up off the floor, I was struck with the feeling of enormous gratitude for the privilege of being able to draw and write for a living. I am grateful to my readers, for making it possible, and for contributing so much engaging interaction with me on social media. I am, of course, grateful to Random House for supporting my work. Their publishers, editors, art directors, sales and marketing people, contribute their best work to each and every title, and therefore, we share this achievement together. Check out my updated “Author Page” on Random House’s website.
