TERRY MOORE'S

Monce:
ITALIA

< Clay
|) re:
Sei
OW 10 DROW
TERRY MOORE'S
 ART & TEXT

TERRY MOORE

PUBLISHER

ROBYN MOORE

ABSTRACT STUDIO, INC.

P. O. Box 271487
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77277

ABSTRACTSTUDIOCOMICS.COM

How To DRAW: EXPLANDED EDITION ©2021 TERRY MOORE. PUBLISHED BY ABSTRACT STUDIO, INC., P.O
Box 271487, HOUSTON, TX 77277. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NO PORTION OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE
REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN
PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER. NAMES, CHARACTERS, PLACES AND INCIDENTS FEATURED IN THIS
PUBLICATION ARE EITHER THE PRODUCT OF THE AUTHOR'S IMAGINATION OR ARE USED FICTITIOUSLY.
ANY RESEMBLANCE TO ACTUAL PERSONS (LIVING OR DEAD), EVENTS, INSTITUTIONS OR LOCALES,
WITHOUT SATIRICAL INTENT, 1S COINCIDENTAL.
 TERRY MOORE'S

HOW 10 pay

“py
Lessous For The Serious Yotist
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ]
HOW 10 DRAW WOMEN q
HOW TO DRAW EXPRESSIONS 3
HOW 10 DRAW BEAUTIFUL cc
HOW 10 DRAW FUNNY 79
HOW TO DRAW BODY LANGUAGE 102
HOW 10 DRAW TIMING 123
TOOLS, TIPS & TEMPLATES 120
 i“ry
i]
\ é be

“Portrait Of AWoman Who Won't Get Through Airport Security”

 HOWTO DRAW WOMEN

Bee a L/
This is not a basic How To Draw book. This book is designed to help you
after you've been through some of those books and done the work and
still find your drawings to be less than you hoped. HowTo Draw books are
typically good at detailing the technical knowledge you need to make a cor
rect drawing but just because a drawing is anatomically sound doesn't mean
it radiates with life. Or to quote guitarist Joe Walsh, ‘Just because you write
‘em doesn’t mean you can play ‘em!""

What captivates the reader is something beyond technical perfection, some-

thing they might not be able to describe but it works every time they look
at the drawing. There is a difference between a correct drawing and an ap-
pealing one. If every artist knows where the bones are located and how to
measure them, why do all our drawings look so different... and some more
appealing than others? Because the basic information used to make draw-
ings filters through the mind ofthe artist. The difference is in the mind. Your
talent only gets you in the game, your mind and what's in it, aka knowledge,
wins it.

This book is about my mindset when drawing, what | look for, the methods
| use to give life to my drawings. My graphic novels are all made using the
techniques and observations in this book, and we begin with a subject dear
to all our hi

Women.
qa
B a
WL iaguite
There's an old Japanese children’s rhyme:

Who has seen the wind

Neither you nor |
But when the trees bow down their head
The wind is passing by

We can't see the wind, only the effects of its presence, but draw those trees and you will
also be drawing the wind. Which is rather Zen when you think about it. So it is with life.
We can't see life, whatever it is, but draw a woman and you will be drawing the effects of its
presence. This is why drawing a nude model in art class is called Life Drawing, not Naked
Lady Drawing.

Think of it as drawing from the inside out. Try to see what's going on beneath the surface
first, then wrap the body around that, because that’s the reality of the situation. Life is the
cause of body language, expressions, emotions and all the external activity we see. Remove
the life force and the body changes immediately and dramatically. It's not just the loss of
animation that marks the removal of life. People look disturbingly different when their life
force is extinguished and the transition becomes more pronounced with each passing hour
I'll never forget the photo | saw of Marilyn Monroe in the morgue. It wasn’t the Marilyn
everyone knew. So it is with a bad drawing... no life.

| bring up this grisly fact because a lot of great artists, Leonardo DaVinci, for one, brought
it up first. Leonardo, when he wasn't at his day job designing weapons for the reigning
king, conducted hundreds of autopsies in a quest to understand the body and use this
knowledge to back-engineer his art. By that | mean he wanted to create more accurate
depictions of the human body so he developed the ability to see them from the inside
out. Somebody needed to do this because art before The Renaissance was not known
for its accurate portrayal of the body. The paintings of Duccio di Buoninsegna are a good
example ofthat era.

Asa result of his gory hobby DaVinci knew what was under the skin, what made it stretch
and move when it became animated with life. Couple this with a gift for both art and sci-
ence (Golden Ratio anyone?) and you have the makings of amaster painter. Which brings
us to the mystery of the Mona Lisa. If you're able to visit the original, you can look her into
the eyes and it's like making eye contact with a living human being. ‘How did he do that?”
people ask.

Well now you know. He knew what was underneath it all. He didn't paint the skin of
Mona's skull, he captured the life that radiated in her face.
[MG @ePpheacin
(=)
An artist should be able to look at
clothed people and know, to a fairly ac-
curate degree, what makes those bulges
and wrinkles. For instance, when | drew
Francine wearing this impromptu outfit
in SiP #4 | knew what was underneath
because | had drawn the body first, then
the clothes. Which is perfectly logical
when you think about it, isn’t it?

Not all artists do this, of course. Cartoonists don’t draw their characters naked then put
funny little shorts on them. They don't have to, they're not trying to be physically accurate.
In fact, the more exaggeration and anatomical errors the better But that carefree method
doesn't work when you want to draw Wonder Woman. Then you're going for beautiful and
that means everything needs to be where it should be. Even if, especially if you can't see it.
Remember, wind in the trees.
I
Okay, so let's get down to the bare facts.
The lady on the left has been waiting pa-
tiently for us. Her name is Eve. Put Eve
in front of five artists and you will get five
very different drawings. Imagine that one
of the artists is me and the others are
Picasso, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol,
and Charles Schulz. We're all drawing
the same person in the same pose but
every drawing looks different. You can al-
most imagine each artist's version just by
their name alone. That's because every
artist has his own style, his own “look”
My drawing of Eve reflects my essential
style. It's not as well known as the styles
ofthe other artists in this example but it’s
mine and I'm grateful to have it. Think of
your drawings the same way. Be proud of
the style you develop, it distinguishes you
from the crowd.

Eve is the basic woman | draw every time

| need an attractive female character in
my comics. All my other female charac-
ters evolve from Eve's design. | can make
her taller, shorter, thinner, heavier, any na-
tionality... any variation is possible. And it
all begins with Eve. | have to admit this
idea wasn't mine, somebody else thought
of it first, but it works.

If you start measuring Eve with your pen-

cil you will see her torso is a bit compact,
a little short-waisted, with legs too long
for her torso. Believe it or not, this un-
even ratio does exist in real life and these
women tend to look terrific in skirts,
pants or whatever they wear. Eve's torso
to leg ratio helps my drawn girls look ap-
pealing before we've even seen the face
or figure. With so many other artists
competing for your attention, I'll take that
advantage every time.

Eve's going to get dressed for work now.

Looking at Eve, dressed and ready for the day,
you can see how the figure on the previous
page fills the clothes on this page. It would not
be possible for me to draw Eve dressed like
this if|didn't know what her body looked like
beneath the fabric. All the details that give this
drawing form and balance come from knowl-
edge of how Eve is constructed. For instance,
notice the distance from chin to collar bone..
even though it is covered by her collar, | know
the line of Eve's neck and where it blends into
her sternum.

The same with the breasts. Knowing Eve's

breast size and type informs me how the
cloth will drape and hang over them. I'm also
considering the weight of the fabrics and how
they may flatten the bustline.

The elbows fall at a transition point in a wom-

an’s torso between ribs and pelvis. This dis-
tance varies among body types, but the elbow
always aligns to that indentation.

The great arc of the spine from front to back

means the bottom is not directly beneath the
stomach. There are functional reasons for this,
but we humans were created/evolved (all be-
liefs are welcome in art class) to find it beauti-
ful. Looking at the way Eve's clothes hang
you can tell where her stomach and bottom
are and how they are aligned even though you
can’t see them.

Can you see why it's more useful to “see” the

body first, then drape it, rather than draw a
draped figure and guess what made the forms?
Or even more confusing, see a draped figure
then have an art instructor talk about bones
and muscles and leave you wondering what to
do about skin and fat.

The casual viewer sees a windblown tree. The

artist sees what kind of tree and how much
wind is required to move it this way or that.

So here you might say, “Okay, | can draw Eve

standing still but, what if she moves?”
ToUCVehn@hc
| sometimes think the difference between a pro and amateur
artist is: The amateur draws what he wants, when he wants. The
pro draws what needs to be drawn when somebody else wants it. :
he
Not for a second would | defend this statement, but | find myself j AN
in that situation more times than | can count. Even creating my
own comics | find myself having to draw poses | never would Q
have thought of as an artist. And—you guessed it—there is
never a reference photo, Which
is why you want to learn the body and
have the knowledge in your head, so that
no matter how your female character
moves you know what goes where and
what that does to all the other parts.
If you know what's under the skin,
including where the fatty deposits
tend to be, you'll also know how
the skin expands and contracts
when stretched or compressed,

So you have two basic

things in mind with the
moving figure: what the
internal structure is doing
and how the external
surface reacts.
 alanee

As | said before, this isn't a book about skeletons, muscles

and measuring the body with your pencil. But that doesn't
mean you shouldn't have a few of those books on your
shelf. You should, absolutely, Use them, learn from them.
But where those books give you the What and Where, |
want to know the Why. It's easier for me to learn if|know
why | am doing something.

For instance, the sketch of Eve dancing at right... looking

like a twisted puppet actually. | like it because she is swing-
ing her body freely, which shows that one part pulls an-
other Right arm goes back, it pulls the shoulder with it,
then twists the torso which pulls the left shoulder/arm
around. All this moves the body's balance off-center, so
now the legs have to compensate and re-establish new
anchor points. Because the torso moved forward, a leg
needs to move forward to hold it up. Because the hips
have been turned right by the spine twisting right, the left
leg naturally moves forward to be the new anchor

It's so logical how it all works. If you push this it pulls that.
Not sure about the pull-my-finger thing though.
16
Things get complicated when two or more bodies interact, but the basic
principles still apply. You have to put on your engineering hat and work
out the mechanics, because if you thought it was hard to find reference for
your typical poses try finding a photo ofthis. (That's not a challenge, I'm
just saying.)

Once you have the anatomy down and you've worked through the me-
chanics of the body in motion then drawing images like this are possible,
When | look at this “‘snapshot” of Francine and Katchoo changing a light-
bulb, |see Katchoo, sitting on Francine’s hips and legs because that is the
place to put extra weight without hurting Francine’s back. When Katchoo
leans back Francine has to lean forward to
balance that or the combined weight will move
behind the center of balance in Francine’s hips
and pull them both backward.

NewTon Says—
If it leans without falling,
something is holding it up.

Notice that Katchoo's left leg has to go back to help keep her on Francine's hips because
Francine’s arms are not enough. In fact, Francine’s hands are working more like hinge pins,
holding Katchoo's hips to her own, but Katchoo still has to keep her own balance. When she
leans back she needs the help of her leg to prop the weight against Francine's hips.
17
The center of balance for a woman is
lower than that of aman.
Have you ever noticed pregnant women don't lean back
to compensate for the extra weight? That's because the
spine of a woman is different than a man's—the ver
tebrae in the lower back are more wedge-shaped, This
feature causes the curve in the lower back that allows
room for pregnancy and centers the additional weight
over the hips

This is just one of countless differences between the

internal structure of men’s and women's bodies.

With all this talk about knowing the body before you
cover it, hopefully it’s not too hard to see that if you can
draw the bodies on the left page, you can easily draw
the figures of Francine and Katchoo below, decked out
in their classic little black dresses. All you have to add ar, ]
to your body knowledge is that awareness of balance ‘— |
and leverage. Katchoo is leaning right by leveraging on j f
her right leg and holding Francine. Francine’s weight is [
on her right knee and right elbow, and she's arcing that
spine you now know about.

= If you specialize in drawing men, you

may struggle to get your women to
look right and wonder why. From
DNA to skeleton, the female human
being is fundamentally different from
her male counterpart. Just as the sur-
geon needs to know what lies be-
neath the skin, so does the artist.

To be clear this has nothing to do

with gender identity. That is person-
al to each human being. The artist
doesn't judge. Our role is to faithfully
apply our skill to the person we are
presenting.

So now you might wonder: Why

learn all this anatomy? Most people
don't know it. How would they know
if |do it right or wrong? Because, you
don’t have to know the details to
know it looks wrong. You do need
the details to make it look right. Be
an expert at your job.
 draw hair and ponytails
too thick. It looks better 1, seneral, children have short
net adults longer necks

Women in comics, even mine,

have thinner necks than reality.
s line up between ¥
eyes and nostrils,
The bent back is not a smooth
arc, there is ahigh spot at halfway

Eyes halfway between

chin and top of head,

This skin compresses

when chin is down.

There are three major folds

in the torso of awoman bent
over: one at the bottom of Sitting bottoms
the rib cage, one above the round. Most of the body
stomach and one below. The weight is compre
depth and width of the creases soft, fatty area.
depends on weight.

When the foot extends

the calf muscle compresses,
rises and shortens.

20
 the wind in the trees plus body
mechanics theory to a new lev-
el: body parts you can’t see but
know where they are and what
state they're in, such as flexed
or loose

In this case, you cannot see the

arms, but you know where they
are by the shoulders and the
one visible hand. If the hand-
to-point-of- sword is one side
of a triangle, and the point-of-
sword-to-shoulder is the 2nd
side, those invisible arms are
logically the 3rd side, The lung-
ing body throwing its weight
ehind the sword, the pow-
erstance legs, and visible left
hand's iron-grip on the handle,
all give us the impression of
speed, power and violence. The
blood flying up against all of
this one way motion is the only
thing not in alignment with the
collective force.

When you draw a woman,

she eisis not aa man vwith =
=
breasts and bigger hips so
don't begin drawing her
_the same way you would a
BO man. Don't even make the
same stick figure, because :
you will be wrong from
the first line. The drawing
ofthe person at right uses
only two lines and two dots
for the body, but already %
the visual message is clear

So there she is, the female

ofthe species. What
does her expression say? 7

2!
Somewhere between your brain that says smile and the mouth that awaits instructions is
a complex array of muscles strapped to your skull, twitched by electrical stimulus to push,
pull, hold, release, scrunch, stretch, lift, lower and perform an almost endless combination of
all these tasks. The result: facial expressions designed/evolved to help us communicate and
get along with our fellow man. Much to the famed anthropolgist Margaret Mead’s chagrin,
these movements were proven to be universal and not culturally determined. Even the
most isolated tribe on the planet understands what the facial expressions of the banker on
Wall Street mean.

So? Why on earth should you, the carefree comic book artist, care? That universal part.

Your character can touch the hearts and minds of anybody on the planet with her expres-
sions alone. If her heart is joyous or broken we will see it—and get it—before she’s even
said a word. Expressions are that important.

22
The person of your dreams can look you
right in the eyes and tell you what you
want to hear but if you don't see it in their
face you won't believe a word they say.

If they're reading a script and can make you

believe it with their expressions, they're ei-
ther a skilled actor or a well drawn comic
book character. Either way, they're just
imitating what you and | do every day... live
with our emotions on our face

The picture of Katchoo and Francine at

left pretty much sums up their relationship
for most of the story in Strangers In Para-
dise. You can see in one ‘snapshot’ what
took me 2200 pages of story to explain

That's the power of art.

When | draw a moment like this, |can eas-

ily turn the girls into “bad actors" by draw-
ing them with expressions that don't con-
vey their emotions. A character without
great expressions is dull to watch. Unless...

When you want the reader to see a char

acter is lying, you might draw their expres-
sion flat on purpose. That's the signal we
all look for in liars...and bad actors: expres-
sions that don’t honestly match the words
or intensity of the moment.

For you, the artist, to keep this flaw out

of your work you need to watch people
carefully. Watch how people interact with
each other Every person you see, from
old photos to the line at Starbucks, is a
chance for you to learn one more detail
about the human being. Keep these
images in your mind. They will re-emerge
when you need them, pencil in hand.

So, yeah. Expressions.

Important.

23
| learned how to draw expressions from cartoons on ty and all the cartooning | did grow-
ing up. Watch any Wylie Coyote/Road Runner cartoon and you'll see every major emotion
‘on that poor coyote's face. | never saw that range of emotions in a superhero comic book.
The hero types were always tight-lipped and serious. That's understandable, they have seri-
ous issues to handle. But even a dark knight needs more than grim and grimmerto convey
their emotions. Don't fall into that trap.

In The Strangers In Paradise Treasury, | wrote about drawing comic strips for years before |
began my first comic book. All of these strips featured female characters. | wanted these
girls to look cute and likable, but | also wanted them to deliver big time with emotional
range and physical comedy. It didn’t take long to realize that meant | had to do more than
learn to draw the cute face, | had to then stretch and distort it to get the broad emotions
| wanted to portray. | worried about distorting these faces and still maintaining the charac-
ter's look How do you draw a pretty girl, then yank her jaw down to her collar bone with
astonishment and still keep her cute?

One day | was looking through a box of photos and | noticed that the faces of familiar
people looked different in every picture (unless of course, they're just giving the camera the
portrait smile). Try it. Look at a series of pictures of awoman talking or doing something
physical, or better yet, arguing, and you will see her familiar features move and change to the
point that she could almost look like someone else. The point is, don’t be afraid to distort
the features ofthat beautiful woman you just drew.

Here's a good example of what I'm talking about.When | watched the movie American Pie,
| marveled at the vitality in Alyson Hannigan's expressions. So | rewatched her scenes in
slow motion, frame by frame. At full speed you don't realize the range of expressions her
face is going through, you only get the impression she is lively and enthusiastic. In slow-mo,
it is amazing how the features of her face fly around. The scene where she talks about band
camp is a perfect example. Draw every expression she uses in that one scene and you
could fill a book. With that in my head | am never afraid to squinch and stretch the faces
of my female stars. Once |got used to it, the rewards were very gratifying, as the close-ups
from SIP at left, show.

ogre. wie: wor

People don’t wear their
heart on their sleeve, they Ne oe
Rt! es ?
wear it on their face. The
expressions are as important
as the words. If they weren't,
radio would be more
popular than movies.

And | apologize for the

couple to our right. I'm afraid
they've been self-isolating
too long.

25
26
Okay, time to discuss what can't be
discussed in polite company... breasts.

Men and women alike have gone to

war for an ample bosom, abdicated
thrones, spent all their money on con-
dos, cars, jewelry, divorces and
second chances. It is this timeless
power that the artist taps into when
they recreate the breast in art. Don't
underestimate the hypnotic power of
secrets revealed. But don't go all slea-
zy on us, either There's a balance re-
quired here, and it’s based on respect.
Respect is the difference between the
nude in art and the naked in porn.
Treat this subject, and any aspect of
portraying humanity, with respect and
that respect will resonate in your art.

Comic books are notorious for featur

ing large breasted women. As an inde-
pendent publisher, | have stood at many
a convention table and seen the public's
reaction to this. Sometimes the reaction
is not what the artist hopes, especially
among the general public who are not
accustomed to seeing the art of pop cul-
ture and fantasy.

For several years | attended major library

conventions. | knew they would like my
stories but watching the cover art turn
some people away was a lesson | won't
forget. The cover to this How To Draw
book is a good example. For the artistic
minded it is fun, for others it might be
seen as offensive. You can't please every-
one, but don't be oblivious to the effect
your art has on people.

Good art makes the world a better place.

27
 4
i)
\\
i

On the left, you have the stereotypical comic book breasts. In the middle is a more
realistic depiction of the same woman, and at right, the same breasts without the influence
of clothing. There's a visual softness to the real thing that is natural and beautiful.

28
When it comes to beauty, size does
not matter. | used the words “am
ple" and "Well endowed” when talk-
ing about the power of the breast,
but the opposite is equally powerful.
Above is a sketch of Francine that
screams, ‘Look at me! and it’s sexy.
To the right is a sketch of Katchoo
wearing one of Francine shirts...and _
it's sexy, too. When it comes to
beauty—and breasts— size doesn't _
matter. People respond to energy
and anyone who is comfortable in
their own skin. That's what you, the —
artist, are trying to recreate, that
source oflife within.
Well, that's the general overview of what I'm thinking and what | look for when | draw
women. Or rather, that's what I'm striving for. In the following chapters, |will put my meth-
ods into practice. With pencil in hand, I'll get into the techniques and details | have learned
over the years drawing more than 4,000 pages of published comic book stories.

30
 HOW TO DRAW EXPRESSIONS

Psychologis
facial ex; 1s as linked to motions. It
trary to popular belief, emotio' al facial expressions are not culturally
mined, but universal among | peoples. In other words, take an urbanite to the
most isolated tribesman on earth and they will recognize each other's emo-
tions as expressed on their faces. Eckman quantified and classifed unique fac

thing similar take place in the eyeball machine used to detect lying replicants.

So, yes... there is a science to studying expressions and, no... artists don’t have
to le n it.

You'd be hard-pressed to find an artist who has heard of Paul Eckman or

is system. Alll that matters is for you, the artist, to L stand that your art
car mmunicate across so cultural and lan; s. People who are
nowhere near you and nothing like you will unde: at your drawing is
telling them through the expressions you drav on your chi cters. That, my
friend, is a power beyond the reach of fame, money and even literature. That is
why art and artists are important in a political world. The expressions in your
art will speak to the world.What you say is up to you, but this chapter will help
you with your vocabulary.

31
EKCUSE ME, UH... WEIRD GUY... AMH YES, HERE IT COMES,
TOU'RE NoT ALLOWED To . HEN HEH... THE OLD BAIT AND
HUMP THE PAINTINGS. ile PANTING? ‘SWITCH. LISTEN, 1DON'T
WAVE TIME FOR ALL THE
SALES GIMMICKS YOO
(M NOT BUMPING PEOPLE USE, 50...
I'M MEASURING!
JUST TELL ME THE
PRICE SOWE CAN
START NEGOTIATING:

I'M TRYING TO
FIGURE OUT IF
THIS WILL FIT IN
MY LIVING RooM

OH, YOURE GOOD! TELL YoU WHAT I'M GOING TO DO... JET...
YOU'RE VERY Goop! I'M GOING TO WRITE DOWN A FIGURE.
TAKE THIS TO YOUR SALES MANAGER...

THAT OFFER.
FINAL
tgerneuaie,
Bu! Ee \Ba eal wer Be
P
BID CREMINON | LINVENTED THeTeRM!
OL a

SEND YOU OVER ICAN GET THIS PICTURE

HERE ? THIS ISA AT KMART ALL DAY
JOKE, RIGHT 2 LONG FOR THIRTY BUCKS!
Before | drew my first comic book,! spent |3 years of my life locked in a dark room study-
ing human beings on a big screen. My job title was video editor. While the world turned
on a9 to 5 schedule, |worked long, odd hours—day after day, week after week, year after
year— until the act of studying life in high speed and slow motion became second nature.
From hours of footage, | picked out the seconds that mattered most and put them to-
gether to form a powerful condensed message. | understood the principal well, because |
grew up reading comic strips that did the same thing

Studying hours of raw footage every day for years is not like watching a lot of movies. | was
required to analyze someone repeating the same thing many times, replaying the footage
over and over until | decided which delivery contained the right nuance, the best expres-
sions with all the subliminal messages possible to convince the viewer to trust and believe
what was being said. Sometimes, if the footage was particularly good, | went back and
studied the performances again, after the client was gone

Studying people for all those years at 30 frames per second taught me two things I've car
ried with me throughout my art career: the face is constantly changing and expressions tell
you what words can’t. In fact they often tell a separate, silent story.

To this day, when people ask me what Strangers In Paradise is about,| fumble for an expla-
nation, It's... complicated. Does the picture above give you any idea about what is happen-
ing? An entire graphic novel in four expressions and, for the artist, it's just dots and lines.

33
eecs & lihes
OMIGOD! 'vE ‘1 |Me CLOTHES(
GAINED 4 POUNDS? 7
(MAPIG! —3
By

O4 WHY CAN'T I
BE LIKE KIXIE7!
KIXIES 50 GREAT!
Krxle’s PERFECT?
In passing conversations, when people ask me how | learned to draw expressions, | don't
dive into a long-winded story about my years as a video editor | say | learned by cartoon-
ing. And it’s true, editing was like a master class on basics I'd already learned as a kid from
Chuck Jones cartoons. For me, Chuck Jones was a master of expressions so my comic art
priorities have always been |. Expression, 2. Body Language, 3. Technique. Working in the
opposite order makes for problematic drawings. Sometimes | won't even rough in the body
until I've achieved the key lines | need for the proper head and face because, without those,
| know I'll have to redraw the whole thing anyway.

Most drawings begin with a few lines, maybe a dot or two, and sometimes this is all you
need to get your point across, the rest is details. Stop at dots and lines and you have a
cartoon. Embellish like crazy and you have something between a masterpiece and a mess.
The same goes for capturing expressions. You can do it in a few lines or draw until the page
is black. Your choice

| could have drawn the conversation below at the top of my ability, with highly rendered
figures in light and shade, but it wasn't necessary. Dots and lines were all it took to convey
the intense emotional exchange between this lovely couple.

Okay. You Finished Yer.

We get tt oor speech ||Ueinneh FL abig
\ for the down te hear
debate? 4q,000 werds, it
1
/ \

My fellow Americans. You cant say that! Bat by sing seme

‘ 14 opponent is adick. ing nice abovt hie
hens mimienect hs wnt? lok like
a havete ||that makes youman,
|; Wolo\ Tf take the the laigger iia See?
high ground
ous
4
~ —
=|

My Sellow Americans... ||In fact, he's the nicest put there's Throw oot.
dick you'll ever meet, More. eVer4 P-
aii
my opponent 15 nice.
| eed, | oPy||
§T0Pr || Shiiea

| tnabs all thats leet? But, when it comes to wells» 16 posh

y the tovgh problems, what do Hides /
“ep. Okay. els a| big pussy| sooHthink? SO
aes
\ let's hear it

‘2 File g
aceident

Dee TR PORE
Okay, rewind, Let's go back and watch this again in slo-mo.

Okay... You Finished Yep.

We got Ht our speech ||Vrimmed it Let's
\ for the down +0 eee?
\ debate? | |49,000 words, a
é

Panel |: Well, that’s a relationship ending fight.

Panel 2: Bik is studying his speech, Beep is content and reading.

Panel 3: Bik turns and looks, not directly at Beep, but at the space near her - which is the
kind of inaccurate gaze people have when still lost in thought. You know, like drivers on cell
phones.

Panel 4: Bik smiles proudly at his work and Beep responds to this. Good times.

Mg fellow Americans... saythat!

You can't Bart by Saying some
13 opponent is adick. ing nice aboot him.
resemenentiie2Hap itl why nt? ohaveto||that make slike
yoolook
| ees ie the bigger man, SeeZ
ig% lea

Panel 5: Bik lifts his eyebrows to open his eyes fully and clear his throat. This is what we
do to reboot our face in transition from one mode to the other Beep, recognizing these
human signals, waits patiently. Her open expression means open mind.

Panel 6: Bik’s wide open mouth signals he is speaking loudly—as if to a large audience—his
eyes fixed on the future. Beep squeezes her eyes as a sign of rejecting what she is see-
ing and barks out her interruption with a wide mouth. In comics, the size of the mouth
opening equates to the volume of the voice. Remember Calvin walking around the house
talking at the top of his lungs, his mouth wide open?

Panel 7: Bik's raised eyebrows signal he is curious, his half-smile says he is still pleasantly
connected to the previous panel's feeling but acknowledging Beep is not. Beep’s eyes and
furrowed brow say she is now irritated. The open hands are “holding up" the problem, and
solution, for Bik to see.

Panel 8: Bik's eyebrows drop and his face goes neutral as he considers Beep's words. Beep’s
scowl is less intent, her anger dimming as Bik appears to listen and cooperate

Isn't this fun, analyzing a joke to the nth degree? | know we're getting dangerously close to
school daze here, but stick with me. We're halfway home.

36
 Mg fellow Americand.n In Fact, he's the nicest put theres anes
Throw sage
ovt
sie fe leubi et, more.
cae
| genes ee| “GTOPY
oF |1 eallnen,

“ ¥

Panel 9: Bik speaks to the masses. Beep's smile and open eyes means she is pleased and
accepting Bik’s actions.

Panel | 0: Bik’s smile is naive and absent of malice. No eyebrow line prevents any misin-
‘terpretation. Beep has the same indignant reaction as Panel 5, but much wider, aka louder

Panel | |: Bik's raised eyebrows and open eyes mean ‘'What?" Having no mouth line implies
his mouth is shut small, a signal of shutting down body actions to neutral until further notice.
Beep points an accusing finger and glaring eyes at the offending speech.

Panel | 2: Bik's neutral expression continues to establish him personally as non-threatening.

The focus remains on the speech. Bad speech. No, no, no.

Tnat's all that left? || But,when itcomes to |] wells IF I push

> the Tovgh Problems, what do hinout
‘ep. okay... els a big pussy! you think? ould look
\ let's heae it ! \ Vike a4
1 accident.

Panel | 3: Bik's scowl is not anger because his eyes are open wide with focus and there is no
angry mouth to reinforce an angry interpretation. Without mouth reinforcement, scowling
eyes can be matched to many different expressions. In this case, it is focusing on a furious
spurt of work.

Panel |4: Beep's raised eyebrows register surprise, and her lowered small mouth means it
is a quiet surprise. Both her response and Bik's are gentle. Only one page out of 90,000
words? Really? Yep.

Panel |5: Bik's simple eyes and normal smile tell us he is speaking up a little but no longer
yelling his delivery... as befitting a good orator’s punch line. Beep's expression, devoid of
tell-tale eyebrow or mouth lines, means she is stunned. Expressionless in this case means
dumbfounded.

Panel 16: Bik is pleased, his smile says so. No eyebrow line with that simple smile means
no competing emotions. Beep's hapless gaze signals she is no longer responding to Bik, but
lost in thought. Her innocent expression belies the murder she is considering. Because she
has been the voice of reason in this exchange and Bik is oblivious to her politically correct
logic—aka popular opinion—we might be amused as Beep considers a simpler alternative
to teaching Bik. Judging by Bik’s expression, he will never know what hit him.

37
| know it's tedious to analyze a comic strip like that, especially when everything | pointed
out on those two pages went through your mind subconsciously when you read the comic
the first time, at full speed. It's a buzz kill to go back and explain what we do naturally but
it's necessary for professionals to understand what is happening when they do their thing,
whether its drawing a comic strip, telling a joke or swinging a golf club. You don't want
your brain surgeon to dive in and do his thing on you with nothing more than raw talent
and good instincts. Why would you do the same with your art? At some point you have
to know exactly what you're doing, so you can do it again and again without fail and then,
hopefully, find your own way of doing it better.

You CAN'T BAT CAKE ALL ||| AqREE? You WANT. > one Sree <| fa4 NEEDS GoaAR, )

eg
AWE
i TIME, KINIE. TRY THD, | Meo €AT A TREE?
You MIGHT LIKE IT!

lames Dean is said to have spent hours in front of a mirror, practicing his expressions,
which should come as no surprise, really.You didn’t think he wasj elying on his talent
and good looks, did you? Many artists use a mirror to capture the right expressions. Actors
and artists alike know that getting the right expressions are important and the professional
doesn't leave something like that up to chance. Neither should you. I'm not saying do it all
from a mirror, but definitely spend some time studying how your own face moves through
expressions. After all, that body in the mirror is the only one you're allowed to stare at for
long periods oftime in a polite society.
Gne Silenc

YEAM, How's
;haa
ANY LEADS ?

39
You know how when you're talking to someone and they stop halfway through a descrip-
tion and say “Y'know what I'm talking about” And you do. They didn't have to tell you the
whole thing in detail, just enough to let you know what they're talking about and you finish
the rest mentally. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, right? Expressions do that, too.
tell the rest of the story, y’know? Case in point:
Mikey is not happy. You can see it in his face. His
50 HOW WAS YOUR body language hangs from his expression like a wet
DATE WITH SHEILA 2 towel. Simple question: How was your date? Mikey’s
reply is minimal, but his face tells us plenty. He has
that dazed look that comes from open, unfocused
HORRIBLE. Ff eyes, slightly lifted eyebrows, droopy mouth. Life is
so heavy he needs a helping hand to hold his head
up.

We've all felt that way at some point. We can al

imagine what kind of date produces Mikey's mood,
so the drawing has opened that folder of data and
memory in our brains. Now you're considering a
bigger story than | drew because you're filling in the
blanks. On a scale of |-10,! wrote a 5, but you read
a7. It's like music, really. | played a few key notes,
your imagination filled the spaces between.
And, the single word reply of “Horrible” didn’t ac-
complish this magic trick all by itself. | could have drawn Mikey shrugging and saying the
same thing with a "What are you gonna do?” expression, and you might have easily dis-
missed the matter with a quick, "Oh, they weren't a good match.’ No, the implied drama
came from Mikey's expression. You see that face and think,‘Hmm, what happened?”

Basically, | loaded a fiction gun and you cocked it. When the answer comes, BANG!

Anyway, we human beings do that; watch the face for clues. In fiction, the writer gives these
clues one way, the artist anothen The two combined can create a reading experience more
powerful than either alone. That's why | like cartooning, which can be defined as writing and
drawing at the same time. You can say so much with so little.

Neil Gaiman once said,''It's the mystery that endures, not the answer’ So it is with the silent
stories in comic art. I'll pursue Mikey's mystery but | won't tell you everything, And your
imagination will provide the rest of the story.

SO HOW WAS SOUR HMM, ZOD WANNA WHAT 19 THIS OBSESSION

DATE WITH SHEILA ? TALK ABOUT IT?

HORRIBLE.
Poor Mikey. His face reflects the frustration all adults have felt at some point in their lives,
struggling with relationships. You could write an entire book from that last panel alone.

Oh wait, |did. It’s called Strangers In Paradise.

Talk about silent stories. The characters of SIP have more ghosts in their closets than
Ebinez crooge. Once you set your comic up that way, every expression you make means
more than the moment, and it’s a blast to draw.

DO | LOOK LIKE THE KIND BECAUSE THATS WHAT FREDDIE

OF GIRL YOU'D WANT TO... AND HIS NEW FIANCE ARE Boy, |
‘YOU KNOUW...TAKE TO HAWAN DOING NEXT MONTH. I THINK You've HAD
AND ALL THAT 2 A SERIOUS FALLING
FREDDIE? ~ OUT WITH YOUR
FREDDIE FEMUR 2! BRUSH HERE

Ww)

”YouFRANCINE,“
STAY AWAY ) THE
KATCHOO,
MAN IS
YOU WANT THE JERK THAT
DUMPED You! THAT'S WHDT
YOU WANT! THAT'S WHY YOU'VE.
FROM HIM? ENGAGED To. BEEN IN A FUNK FOR THE
Yo
”] BE MARRIED! PAST YEAR! AND THAT'S ¢
¢ WHAT WOULD T WHY YOU'RE FINALLY PULLING
POSSIBLY WANT. YOURSELF OUT OF 1771,
FOR FREDDIE FRIAKIN
Pe LEMUR!

Get it? The dialogue is sayi ne thing, but the girls are really talking about something
else entirely. To spell it out, Francine's fixation on Freddie and her determination to ignore
the fact that Katchoo wants to be her partner Read it again, with the subplot in mind and
notice that the emotions and expressions are not for the dialogue, they're matched to the
silent story.

Fun, huh? That's why | think graphic storytelling is more powerful than prose alone. The abil-
ity to utilize expressions in the reading changes everything.You can use the full power of the
written word plus the power of visual storytelling, Only comics can do that.

So... global communication, facial expressions, silent story. Let's break for volleyball!
41
Read more FREE comics on ReadComicOnline
R
SA
uh
—

d i]
Read more FREE comics on ReadComicOnline
You're an artist, or an aspiring artist, and you've sketched a lot of faces. You've gone through
How To Draw books, seen the cartoon heads, the semi-realistic renditions of a few ex-
pressions, the gruesome drawings of heads without skin, without muscles or tendons. But
when you sit down to draw the next face, does it really help? You look at the face you just
drew and you wonder why it seems stiff and asymetrical. Really? Again? My millionth stiff,
asymetrical face in a row? I'm a human being, for goodness sakes. I've been looking at faces
all my life. | should be able to draw one without it looking like a melting doll head. |mean
action figure.

Don’t be discouraged.

Look at the bundle of joy on the facing page. Let's call him John, because that's his name
This is a panel of John having a moment (in Echo). We also see John’s skeleton, John’s skel-
eton with muscles and tendons and organs, and cartoon John. They're all the same pose of
the same man and not one of them is technically correct.

In the big panel, I've cheated the truth on little details all over John's face right down to his
flying eyebrows. In my desire to intensify the moment all these details have been stretched
a bit to exaggerate the truth and make things more intense. Stage actors do the same thing
with stage makeup. |just used a bit more pencil here and there, opened things up a bit. It's
like reality but turned up a notch.

It's the same with the sketches of John’s skull and muscles. | drew them from memory.
You wouldn't want your doctor using these drawings, but they're close enough to throw
cartoon skin over and get a decent looking figure. | know it's odd for me to say “Don't
try to be an A-student at this’ but, for anybody other than a medical illustrator, a working
knowledge of what is underneath the skin and a good idea of the lovely bones all that stuff
is pinned to is all you need. You don’t have to know the names of all 640 muscles and 206
bones but you do want to know about the major parts—in this case, the face. You want to
know what is pulling the mouth around, flaring the nostrils, furrowing the brow and wiggling
the ears because knowing what is under the surface helps you draw the surface.

Remember the wind in the trees we talked about for women and clothing? Now we're
going one level deeper. What makes the skin puff out here and pull in there? What makes
the beautiful bulges and gross saggy parts? It's your job to know. As you learn, you might
pick up some fun things you never would have known. Like, why do men have bigger brains
than apes? The jaw muscle—that vertical one in front of the ear It’s huge in an ape, allowing
him to clamp his massive jawbone with tremendous pressure. It also makes the cranial cav-
ity between the two opposing jaw muscles small, inhibiting the size of the brain. Man has a
specific variation in DNA that directly results in a smaller jaw muscle. This has allowed the
brain to grow bigger over time, and the jawbone to shrink. Fast forward to the top heavy
skull of man today. What a thing to learn in an art book, huh? But you can’t draw people
without learning something about them. Maybe that's why we keep drawing—the joy of
learning. And now | bet you will never forget that jaw muscle.

Bottom line is you don't have to be a hardware engineer to operate your computer Nei-
ther do you have to be an anatomical expert to draw the human body. Learn the major
stuff, soak up the rest as needed, and have fun with it.This approach will take you a long way.

45
 [BolleSe0Se

Wee ee
OOOQOOS
OOOOOE
ea© ==)(83) a

we ee =
Have you ever tried the KII.S.S. (Keep It Simple... uh, Sunshine?) exercise on the left? Fill a
page with circles and quickly put a different expression on each one until the page is full.
(Remember when | told you to put your circle template away when drawing the breasts of
women? You can retrieve it from the drawer now.) So, no repeats on the expressions. And
no copying off my paper

The first 18-24 come easily, then you have to dig a little deeper, right? The point of this
exercise is to make you think about the variety and mechanics of facial expression without
being distracted by the act of drawing itself. Because whether or not you can draw a face
you're happy with is an entirely different problem that has nothing to do with drawing an
expression. You can draw a smiley face, right? Then you can draw an expression. Whether
you draw it on an emoticon or a realistic oil painting is a different conversation.What I'm
trying to do here is separate the problems.

Say, for example, you have three major problems when drawing Batman’s head: Your Bat-
man head looks all wrong, you can't draw expressions and you don't have any drawing
tools. Dealing with all three problems at the same time can be confusing and slow you
down in your progress to a solution. Fix the problems individually then put your solutions
together for the complete picture. In this case, you would:

|. Buy a pencil, for crying out loud. They're only about $300 at a Mont Blanc store. Or get
one of the 25 cent wooden ones that actually work better’ Whichever.

2. Draw the K.I.S.S, exercise. Voila! You just drew a page full of expressions so don't say you
can't. Now you have a better idea of what you want the eyes and mouth to do. Getting
that on any face you draw in the future is going to be easier than before.

3. a) Find your favorite picture of Batman that somebody awesome— like Jim Lee—drew.
(I can't show you Batman because I'm not DC Comics) Using your new pencil, draw Bat-
man's head freehand (meaning you draw it without tracing or any other tricky aids) as best
you can, copying Jim's drawing as close as possible. When you're finished, hold them side by
side. Look alike? Maybe not. Okay, you did that so you could do this:

b) Lay a sheet oftracing paper over Jim's drawing and trace it.Just the head—keep it simple
Now hold those two side by side. Look better? You did not just waste your time—you just
had your mind and hand follow the right path for the first time. Don’t underestimate this
exercise because art is a systemic act and brain to hand communication is important. Your
hand just showed your brain how to draw Batman correctly. Now if only your brain could
see this path every time, right? Next step:

c) Lay the traced drawing(b) over your freehand version(a). See where the lines vary? See
where you maybe have too small a this or too large a that? Using this as a roadmap, try a
new freehand drawing, this time looking at this overlay combination, focusing on following
the correct path, deliberately not following your usual path. This will require your full atten-
tion because it will feel odd. That's because you are disobeying your brain to hand habits,
teaching them a new path.With repetition, the act of drawing the correct path will register
in your brain. Repeat the exercise until you like the results then play with changing his eyes
and mouth like the emoticons. K.I.S.S. Now you're drawing Batman.

47
Okay, time for me to practice what | preach. Let's pull art from my comic pages and com-
pare the facial expressions to the K.I.S.S. version. This will take the challenge of realistic
drawing out of the equation. Anybody can draw these expressions using K.I.S.S.

YEEUR NoT COMPLETELY

STOOPID, ARE YEW?” J

Lying down, sideways, half -—

NK in the dirt... it doesn't mat- f \
wae BN ter, it’s still just an emoti- Fé . \) \
@ @ \ con with extra drawing | { \
wg
~ around it. See?

XQ) y They're all like this.

Read more FREE c

wHAt HAPPENED To HER 7
WHAT THE HELL ARE You
PEOPLE PoING HERE

Don't let all the hair fool you. This is all that
is under the beard, the red nose and old age
wrinkles—a simple emoticon.

| hope this helps you see the simple

1 lines in every face you see from now on.
| Whether it’s my work, yours or your fa-
vorite comic artist, it all comes down to
a few basic lines. The rest is what you
bring to it, and that’s your signature look.

49
I'd like to share one more thing before | use the last couple of pages to flood you with
expressions to use for reference (and tracing exercises). It's about Style vs Limitation.

Style: Every top artist has a style, aka signature look, of their own.Within that style they can
also produce a wide range ofvariations. One ofthe best examples | can think of is Jeff Scott
Campbell, a terrific artist with his own distinctive style and a wide range of variation and
flexibility within that style. You can tell a Campbell drawing when you see it but he can fill a
poster full of heroes and they're all built differently and look different—they are variations
within a master style.

Limitation: One of the most common problems with artists of all levels is that we develop
one way to draw our hero, male or female, and we can't draw a variation of that. For ex-
ample, all our men, or women, look alike and the only way to tell them apart is by their hair
and costumes. I'm not talking about style here, I'm talking about a limit to the artists ability.

Limitation is when you can’t draw anything else. Style is when you can draw anything and
give it your own look, Big difference.

So why am | bringing this up in a book/chapter about expressions? Because | spent a few

years trying to design just the right girl's face that was all my own, one that | would love and
happily draw for the rest of my life. Then, when | finally drew it for the first time, anything |
did different with the face lost “the look”.

Take Katchoo, for example. She's one of my basic girl looks. When | first got the look| liked,
it was in one drawing with one certain look of attitude. | leaned back and admired that
drawing with mixed feelings. On one hand, | had reached a goal, on the other hand | knew
| now had to repeat the goal and master it from every angle.As | drew | tried to keep that
certain attitude to her look but found it impossible. | made that first drawing in my own
style but immediately found my limitations.

| think this happens to most artists who are trying to do more than copy others. So, what
do you do? After 2-3 years, | had only a handful of drawings of Katchoo that | liked and
tons | didn't.! went through all the How To Draw books in the library and not one of them
addressed this problem. They showed me how to draw like them, not how to be original.

For a while | was frustrated, thinking | just didn't have the extra measure oftalent required
‘to get what | was after Then one day | was flipping through a family photo album and | saw,
really saw, something I'd never noticed before. Our faces change so much during the years
and emotions of life, at any given second we don't look like ourselves. The defining look we
think of is usually the face at rest. Well, that changes completely when the person screams,
or feels sick or lets out a belly laugh. Look at pictures of yourself and your loved ones. See
how your faces change over the years but they are always recognizable. You would recog-
nize your loved ones whether they were smiling or grief-stricken yet their faces look very
different in the two moments. The rules for art are no different. Stretch Katchoo's sexy
scowl into a bright smile and she will look very different but she is still Katchoo and you
know her when you see her

Once | recognized this in life, that limitation was gone from my art.

50
 DA GAGS
ak

Read more FREE comics on ReadComicOnline

GXzpPressions tit eche —

——_ = WSS aN SUN,

NSS

; f

7...
5 YN
Wess!
One day a Roman statesman named Cicero stood up and said something to the effect of
“The eyes are the window to the soul.’ This statement rang so true that it has survived two
millenia. What Cicero meant was, we can see who a person really is by the expressions on
their face. The same can be said for art.

Great art—whether it is in a museum or a comic book—reveals the soul of its subject

and touches the heart. Pretty is nice but soulful is unforgettable. We tend to care more for
people and things we know best so the more a viewer gets from your art the more they
will care about it. There numerous aspects to great art but in my opinion none more
important than expressions.

You should take a break now. Grab your favorite snack then sit down and draw somebody.
Draw them six times in six different moods with six different expressions because that is
pretty much what you have to do on every page of acomic book.

The comic artist's rule: snack once, draw twice. Or is it the other way around?

54
 HOW 10 DRAW BEAUTIFUL

Why are we attracted to beauty?

Scientists have looked into this and the answer may surprise
you. I'll tell you what they found out but what we're most
concerned with here is how to capture the beauty ofpeople,
particularly women, with nothing more than paper and pen-
cil. Doing so requires talent, yes, but also an understanding
of some basic facts about what we find attractive and ap-
pealing in nature. Using what we learned in the previous two
chapters, HowToDraw Women and How To Draw Expressions,
| will show you how to combine anatomy and basic human
behavior to transform your drawing into something the eye
cannot resist...

Beauty.

55
©)/HUN0uL Gary
“What is beautiful?”

At first glance the question is silly. In ordinary life, you don’t need someone to tell you
something is beautiful or explain what beautiful is, because you know. Somewhere deep
inside each of us that basic knowledge exists. How deep?

Scientists placed a toddler in a room with two TV screens. One showed an attractive face,
the other an unattractive face. The child paid attention to the attractive face and touched
the screen. They tried this with twenty toddlers and all did the same.

Being scientists, they needed a constant for their experiment and in this case it was sym-
metry. Since ancient times popular thought has been that symmetry equals beauty. For
the toddler experiment the scientists chose an attractive face that was also famously sym-
metrical, the smiling face of actor Paul Newman.The test: Are we instinctively attracted to
symmetrical beauty over non-symmetrical ordinary? The conclusion: Yes. Trust science to
conduct an experiment to prove Paul Newman was good looking.

What can we take from all this? We like pretty. And, more times than not, pretty utilizes
symmetry. But... not... always. If beauty was simply anything symmetrical, then why does it
look so freaky when we mirror one side of a face against itself?

See the illustration on the left? That is our freaky case in point. That is one half of aportrait
mirrored against itself The two sides are now perfectly symmetrical, but the overall effect is
more disturbing than beautiful. In fact, most mirrored faces are disturbing. This party trick is
often used to show people how different the two sides oftheir faces really are. Match the
left side of your face to itself and you look one way. Match the right side to itself and you
look like a completely different person!

So now we have a quandary. Science says beauty involves symmetry but you can't draw
only half a person and Photoshop the rest because the results are—looking left—freaky.
Popular wisdom says beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but twenty babies said beauty is
instinctive, predictable and reliable. So the question remains: What is beautiful?

Not chuckling now, are we?

Asking an artist what is beautiful is like asking a physicist, ‘How long is a piece of string?"
The answer touches on everything in existence and concludes with ''We don't know.” In
fact, it's a question without an answer but we don't care because the quest is an absolute
joy.Along the way we take notes and get better at capturing the look we love. If we do our
jobs right the results are in themselves beautiful and attract patrons the same way a pretty
face attracts babies.

The same physics that keep the moon from falling on your house will attract fans to your
beautiful drawings. It has nothing to do with philosophy or culture or hormones, it’s just the
way the universe works,

You know, like The Force.

57
 IN ANCIENT TIMES, THE GREEKS DEFINED
PHI AS DIVIDING A LINE IN THE EXTREME
AND MEAN RATIO.

PHI 1S AN IRRATIONAL NUMBER.

ey
BOT IT 15 THE
\
| SOLUTION To
; \| {OUR QUADRAT!

(M1 BACK AND |)

PHL. ITS EVERYWHERE! REIN LY

0,1,1,2,3,5,8, 13, 21,34,

55,
You shouldn't be surprised to learn that math and art are kissing cousins. We like to mea-
sure things in nature, and over the millennia we've noticed a few consistencies that serve
the artists, designers and engineers well.

Back in the age when men were brilliant mechanical engineers building temples with zero
tolerances using nothing but a hammer and wet sanding, their mathematic-heavy lives pro-
duced rules we still live by. One of them is Phi.

Simply put, Phi is the ratio of Ato segment B when B is the same ratio to segment C. In
other words: B Cc
A=|68Xi
B=1.618 XC
A
The reciprocal is true as a ratio of .618. In other words: C is to B what B is to A. We call
that phi, with a lower case phi.
C= 618 of B
B= .618 of A

You don't have to memorize this, but for the record:

Phi 1.6 180339887

phi 6180339887

Isn't the yin and yang of that beautiful? Math and art have a lot in common. Phi and phi
are like two sides of a face that compliment each other perfectly. In other words: beautiful.

WAIT! Okay, you have your pencil in hand, ready to draw beautiful women,
and | tricked you into a math class. Before you bolt, let me show you why
you want to be aware of Phi when you draw the female form.

Once our clever forefathers became aware of the Phi ratio, they began to see it every-
where. And | mean that literally. Everywhere. From the spiral of snails and galaxies to the
patterns on a butterfly's wings; from the way tree limbs branch out and divide to the rings
of Saturn; from the spacing of tones that make our music, to the vibrations of sub-atomic
particles; from the dependability of the Fibonacci sequence to the pleasing shapes of our
TVs and credit cards. Everything in existence seems to have Phi in common.

We'll let the philosophy class argue over what that means to us as human critters on a big
blue ball. This is art class, and guess what else is comprised of Phi ratios? You guessed it...
human beings. Namely, that beautiful woman you want to draw.

The proportions of awoman align to Phi, There’s no guesswork to it.The shapes may vary
but the ratios and proportions will remain the same. Draw a woman in the ratios the
universe prefers and you will have a drawing that pleases the eye. When the ratios are off,
the results are usually less attractive to us and babies won't toddle up to your art and coo.

Now, replace the word "babies" with “fans and patrons” and you'll see why you want to
know a little about Phi when you draw.

39.
Okay, so the principle of Phi is that you can take a line, or measurement of some sort and
split it into infinity. Not split in the middle because then you get into the freaky world of
symmetry but split at 1.618 of the length. The two lines can then be split into Phi sections
then those sections can be split into more Phi sections and so on, into infinity. That is the
simple mechanics of Phi. In either direction, you can split or join sections, or measurements,
in a Phi chain,

Why would you do that? Because those sections

and branches, all of them, are in perfect harmony to
the whole. Mathematically, the sections form beautiful
equations like the Fibonacci series and Pascal's Trian-
gle. In architecture, these proportions form the stron-
gest and most durable structures like the great pyra-
mids. In music, everything about the octave breaks
down to a Fibonacci series. In nature, trees, plants,
color patterns, shells, animals, DNA, poetry, even pop-
ulation growth... all branch out to a Fibonacci pattern.
From black holes to sub-atomic bosons, everything resonates on a similar proportionate
platform. And so should your drawings.

This is why Leonardo da Vinci made all

those sketchbook drawings showing
bodies with measurements. He wasn’t
nailing down the proportions ofjust one
man, but every man. The Vitruvian Man
isn't a portrait, it’s a building schematic.

So, that’s about all the Brainiac data we

need for one book. How do we take all
that science into account when we sit
down to draw a beautiful woman? And,
you may point out, we've never seen the
popular artists drawing a pinup girl with
a pencil in one hand and a ruler in the
other And you'd be correct.

Just being aware of how life and the

universe is constructed is to your artis-
tic advantage. Art isn't an exact science
but it is very much aware. When daVinci
laid out The Last Supper to a Phi ratio
he didn’t need a calculator. A few marks
made with chalk and string were enough. The rest was inspiration. You've seen an artist
make a few marks to lay out a portrait. If done correctly, those marks also fall into sweet
spots that can be found on Phi measurements.

Again, I'm not promoting a calculated approach to drawing so much as | am urging you to
be aware of the world around you, the one you're trying to draw. Don't waste time thinking
your best drawing is a fluke because it's not. You can do it again and again.
60
With the black line
A being the height of
the girl, the two tall /
gray lines beside it
represent the B and
C sections as mea-
sured from the top
of the head to the
fingertips (when the
hands are down by
her side. This model is
very uncooperative.)
You can continue B/C
divisions down to the
sub-atomic world. Af-
ter that..| don't know
what to tell you!

On a normal body, you can

mark off the golden sections
in countless ways. Every limb,
bone and muscle is in propor
tion to something else, verti
cally and horizontally, Start
AN the lines and con-
g the dots and you can
make perfect triangles and
circles and boxes until your
face turns blue. Either we're
very geometric or geometry
was invented to measure us,
| suspect the latter; we're a
rather vain species.

él

Read more FREE comics on

cdirs¢ limes
Okay, with all that in mind, let's rejoin (for a moment) the standard How To
Draw class and talk about starting your drawing of the figure.

For beginners it usually starts with some loose circular forms that look like a
ball on a pear, the shape of most every American cartoon character. Add a tail
and ears and you have Bugs Bunny. Remove the chin and it’s Homer Simpson.
If you want to leave the world of animation: get control of that belly, measure
out a human skeleton, and you can easily turn it into, oh say, our uncooperative
model.

This is probably as close as \

you will ever come to X-ray \
vision—one ofthe perks, or \
curses, of being an artist.

Once you've drawn a couple thousand figures using the pear you will find your-
self diving straight into figure drawing without a template. This gives you a more
lyrical, flowing line from the beginning.

As an artist you want to be able to look at people and see the mechanics of
their form in motion. Torso, arms, legs, feet, hands, neck, head, fingers... it's all a
substructure that lies just beneath the skin on every person, even your dream
girl. And with Phi in mind, we know it's a carefully balanced structure, measured
out to proportions that even an alien would recognize because the ratios are
truly universal. Wherever that alien is from he will have seen these proportions
in the universe around him. Or her. Or it. Whatever.

63
No details in these preliminary sketches,
Lean over, look left,
but the beauty is evident from the first
look right, pour the
lines. That's because they are the right lines.
wine... the body is
It's easier to evaluate the right or wrong always doing some-
of the drawing before it becomes compli- thing, even ifit’s
cated with details. just a sigh.

Once you have the

drawing Iaid out to
this degree filling
in the details is
worry free fun.

Draw the people

around you in res-
\ taurants and coffee
shops. One minute
sketches are a
great way to make
drawing second
nature to you.

64
 The lady at left took only a couple of minutes to draw.
Every line | made is visible, nothing has been erased. See
any Phi marks? Any faint skeletal lines? No, there aren't
any. All the stuff I've talked about is there, | just didn't
need to draw it to see it. You get that way after drawing
the pear a million times. That's why you don't see artists
drawing figures with a ruler in one hand, The measure-
ments are in their head, guiding their pencil as they eye-
ball the relationships of the figure and its appendages.

‘Try this exercise:

Stare at the lady, then try to visualize her on a blank
piece of paper: Don't look at the drawing itself, look at
the person in the drawing as if you're trying to memo-
rize her because you'll never see her again. That kind of
look. Now look at a blank white paper and try to see
her there, using the image and details burned into your
brain. If you can get a sense of seeing her there then you
are experiencing what the artist tries to do with every
drawing: imagine it on the paper then chase your imagi-
nation with a pencil and nail it down. You imagine the
head, the tall body, the blonde wavy hair, the black dress,
the attitude of the hands, the high heels... she’s beautiful
and you haven't even drawn the face yet.

See how that works? No rulers, no sci-

ence talk, no live models to work from,
just your imagination and a basic un-
derstanding of how long you want your
arms and legs to be on the pear Not
so mysterious when you think of it that
way, is it? There's a lot of knowledge be-
hind your decisions, of course, but you
only have to learn that stuff once then
you can use it on every drawing for the
rest of your life.

Beauty is not in the details, beauty is

there from the second line you draw
and depends on how you relate it to the
first, the third to the second, and so on.

Drawing is about the relationships of

lines and forms to each other: Beautiful
is when you get it right.

65
Ghe bey
Looking at Julie on the left, we see everything we've talked about so far: the core body with
independent suspension, strong limbs and Phi proportions.

We talked about breasts in How To Draw Women, but Julie's pose, with chest forward and
arms back, brings up a good point. Full breasts like Julie's will have an adaptive bustline that
changes depending on what she is wearing and how she is moving. For instance, cleavage.
Breasts do not form a cleavage unless something pushes them together So while Julie has
no cleavage in this pose, a bra would change that. Also, be aware that it is unusual for both
breasts to be the exact same size, but artists try to draw them that way. Again, don't let
the pursuit of symmetry trip you up. It's not natural to your subject.

Continuing down to the stomach and hips; one greatly affects the other and there are three
basic types.

The three hips above are the basis for most feminine forms.

Above left are the low hips. With this shape, fat collects primarily at the top of the legs
where they meet the hips. If this body type gains a lot of weight it will be pear shaped.
Because the distance between the shoulders and hips is accentuated, this body shape can
appear long waisted.

In the middle are the square hips. This woman will appear to have a higher waistline than
the low hips woman. She may also wear her clothing and belts higher, which makes her legs
seem longerA lot of models have this body shape. If this body type gains a lot of weight it
will be apple shaped, meaning the waist will be the widest part. Because weight tends to
collect in the mid-section ofthis body the legs are often slender.

On the right are the narrow hips. This athletic, Peter Pan shape is also commonly found on
the sadly underweight so be careful what you are trying to depict. If this body type gains
a lot of weight the result is a barrel-chested, thick shoulders look and clothes will hang
straight down.

67
The shoulders lead the body; where they
turn the body is bound to follow.

There, | just gave you the secret to golf,

diving, judo and throwing a punch that will
break something.

You might want to remember this while

drawing, too. Wherever your woman turns,
her shoulders turn first and lead her there.
The shoulders pull the body around while
the hips pull the legs around. We have in-
dependent suspension and the two often
get out of parallel to each other Their twists
and turns are coordinated by a brain that
uses them to keep us balanced and moving
through physical demands. From the outside,
the results can be gorgeous.

Pull an unconscious man behind you

and you will have to lean forward to
drag his dead weight. Try it. In doing
so we will get this view ofyou, looking
down on your shoulders as you lean
forward.

Don't be afraid to draw figures at

angles you haven't practiced. Draw-
ing the body in different perspectives
is fun. It teaches you to think about
what you're drawing in the first place...
that torso with all it's parts and lovely
bones attached

Once you have the body parts where

you need them to be in the drawing,
you can work on making them attrac-
tive. The women | draw tend to have
medium width shoulders with long
muscles, as if they are swimmers or
surfers. They can run, throw a ball and
hold a yoga pose longer than us. Me-
dia will tell them to lose 20 pounds,
and they will refuse.

68
This is what square hips look like from
behind. By now you understand that
by bringing her left shoulder back
Francine has twisted her spine left
and the torso followed. The hips, of
course, don't care. They don't take or
ders from the shoulder so they stay
planted and there you go, the classic
pin-up pose.

In all fairness to the body's mechani-

cal engineering though, the shoulders
managed that turn only because the
hips allowed them. Notice the right
shoulder jutting forward in order to
let the left shoulder come back. That
shifts weight to the right leg, which
has moved back half a step to main-
tain balance. The turn compresses the
left side of the body and stretches the
right side.

Women are flexible. Draw that.

| am a cartoonist because | see line, not light.

| draw the shape of things, painters show you
how light hits it.

Though | do love the way light reacts to us.

The sketch at left of Francine bending over a
light is reminiscent of a famous photo soldiers
carried for morale in WWII. Actress Rita Hay-
worth posed in lingerie for a glamour shot but
the overhead flash failed and she was lit solely
by the low-sitting camera flash. The effect high-
lighted her shape like this, accentuating her body
in ways that made soldiers want to win the war
and come home to her

| find inspiration in moments like that. That pho-

to was like a market test: What do people like
in a pin-up? People haven't changed. Apply the
lessons learned to your own art and that is one
less wheel you have to reinvent.

69
When you lift the shoulders the chest fol-
lows and the torso is stretched, This can
be a beautiful sight, giving you the oppor
tunity to draw those long muscles doing
something flattering.

Okay, connecting the independent sus-

pension of the shoulders and hips is the
spine. Alll the soft stuff in the middle will
move, stretch and scrunch depending on
how the shoulders-hips-spine rig moves.

About that spine. We talked about it

in How To Draw Women; about why
a woman can carry a nine pound baby
without leaning backwards because her
spine is made differently than a man's, and
has greater flexibility in the lumbar sec-
tion. This is distinctly feminine, so don't
V
forget it when drawing.
Ifyou ever see a man in this pose, call an
ambulance because his back is broken.

if
Y a litle sketch on the left
is something interesting to
do... draw the body as if it
has parts that require as-
sembly. Every major joint is
a separate attachment; like
a doll. This approach helps
you to stop thinking of the
flow from top to bottom
and helps you build each
part with its own esthetic
beauty. What are the pretti-
est hips, the prettiest thighs,
the prettiest calves? And
so on. When you've drawn
that, pull it apart. (right)

Sometimes in comics all you

need is the slightest suggestion of
shoulders to let you know how
the girl is standing and what her
mood is. Don't overdraw it.
70
 7I

Read more FREE comics on ReadComicOnline

 There's no telling how many necks you've seen in
your life,but when it’s time to draw one doing any-
thing out of the ordinary, you many find yourself
struggling. Remember the neck is not a short arm
filled with muscle. Spine, trachea, arteries, larynx,
nerves, tendons... the neck is literally a lifeline be-
tween the head and body. That's why predators
go for the neck, not an arm. Respect that fragility
when you draw it.

The small of the back is

an intersection of dips
and swells caused by
the muscles of the low-
er back and hips, Some
women have dimples
The two major muscles up front here, some don't. Some
are called the Sternocleidomas- have deep spines, other
toid. Where they join the sternum have a flatter surface. It’s
leaves a noticeable dip doctors the artist's choice.
call the jugular notch. Dracula
loved this spot. He looked right
over a lady's swelling cleavage to
admire her “lovely ucipital map-
ilary". Weirdo.

When people are young and their skin is

healthy and tight, the skin between chin and
neck is stretched taut, creating a sheer under
hang that casts a shadow on the neck. With
my spare style, | draw very few shadows but
even | have to include this one.

Usually, but not always, the clavicle (collar

bone) is evident. Prominence is usually weight
dependent, but not always. The little variances
in each of us allow for things like clavicles, el-
bows, wrist bones and knuckles to be more or
less visible. You can use these options to help
set a profile for your drawing. What you do
or don’t show will affect the opinions people
form of your drawn girl on sight.

72
 Rachel (from Rachel Rising) is a good example ofthe
BUT YOU SEE HER face | like to draw. Thick hair adds drama to scenes
— DON'T YoU 2 when | need it.The eyebrows are natural; not skinny,
plucked lines. The nose is turned up; not too short,
not too long. The bottom lip is fuller than the top. |
She's wad always try to not have too strong a chin but that is
Gou'RE HIDING 2 hard to fight when the character is emoting. In the
panel to the left, you can see the upturned nose and
a slight jut to the chin that comes from setting your
teeth with potential aggression.

At right you can see the same

face head on. Notice the line
that emphasises the upturned
nose. Also notice the eyes go
up on the outside corners. |
feel this adds intensity; the op-
posite of sleepy.

Another look with the profile at full rest.

The hair becomes part of the appeal in this
image, flowin d hanging in art nouveau
fashion. But the size and alignment of this
lady's features are the key to her beauty;
any changes would make a big difference.
Make the nose bigger, the top lip longer,
forehead more sloped, the chin weaker or
stronger and she's a different person. Even
the amount of overbite to her teeth is key
to the whole face. She's lucky, she was just
drawn that way—I had to figure it out by
years oftrial and error.

Ea
The face of cine in turna

73
 In Strangers In Paradise, |want-
ed an ensemble cast of young
people that we could relate
to and like. The three women
were very different but they
became best friends. Here you
see the challenge of an artist
like me needing three leading
women. My quirks and habits
are on every face... the eyes,
nose, mouths... they're very
much alike, aren't they? Yet they
| maintain they're _individuality,
) |} even when side by side. | did
this with different hair styles,
body types and body language
You can tell on sight which one
is hyper, which one is motherly
ys and which one is a smartass
/ \ \ (left to right). That personality
comes from within to control
the face.

The fun part ofthis is the same personality can be portrayed via any art style.|don’t have
to draw Francine a certain way every time to make her look like Francine. | can draw
er Peanuts style and you still know who she is. | can draw her animation style and you
recognize her |can draw her like a 1901 magazine illustration—say, a Gibson Girl—and
she would still shine as Francine. She is Francine no matter what shell you drop her into.
If we put these three ladies in identical cars and watched them drive down the freeway,
you would be able to tell which one was which. You draw the shell but you're revealing the
driver inside.

ee
Sse
Ntate

74
 We talked about it in How
To Draw Women—the life
force within each ofus that
makes the eyes shine and
the smiles glow. Bring that
energy to your drawings.
Even at rest, a woman ra-
diates warmth and energy.
That's life. You're drawing
life, in the big wonderous
sense.

you're drawi
force of nature.

I'm always careful to show that

Francine carries a few extra
pounds because that's real life.

The superhero genre of comics

portrays all heroes and most all
villains as superfit. How they find [=
time to leave the gym and_ fight
crime or create crime, | don't
know. For this perplexing reason
alone | don’t draw superhero com
ics. As my mother-in-law would say,
“Not my pig, not my farm."

Francine is you and me and most ]}

everybody in real life. And that's
why we love her
Have you noticed there are two basic types of hands on a woman? One type, the fingers
can curl back up high from the first knuckle, particularly the little finger. In fact the little fin-
ger is often sitting up in a cocked position.
The fingers are often long and delicate. The wrist
bone is prominent. (Whether or not the delicate hand is always attached to a prominent
wrist bone, I'm not prepared to say, but it does seem that way. )The other type of hand is
more athletic. The fingers do not bend up and back; they coordinate together This hand is
stronger. See the two types above, holding the leaf.

It's been my highly subjective observation that the delicate hand belongs to a woman who
does not possess a lot of physical ability or coordination. Thiswoman often has a bruise on
her leg from bumping into things, her back right tire has scuff marks from turning into curbs,
and if she throws a ball at you she will miss. This is the hand of Francine.

The strong hand belongs to a woman who is coordinated and athletically capable. This hand
cannot pull its fingers back like the delicate hand. This hand belongs to a woman who can
play sports well, fire a gun accurately, drive a muscle car and throw a ball down your throat
from across the room. This is the hand of Katchoo.

Whether or not you have ever consciously thought about this before, you probably know
it on some level. When | include details like this in my drawings, | believe it registers in
people's minds and informs their opinion of the woman in the drawing, just as it does in
real life.

When | showed my first comic book story to a pro he first flipped through the art looking
at the hands. He said “Good hands.’ | replied,"'| knew you'd look for that." Hands are like a
litmus test for artists. Because they are so expressive, they are key to story art but they're
not easy to draw correctly. Take the time to watch the hands of people and notice how
they match not only the person but also their capability.

76
Okay, let's talk about The Other Eye. You draw
a face, draw a good eye, then spend the rest of
the day trying to draw the other eye to match.
Head on portraits are the toughest to get
right. It always seems like one of the eyes is
off. Once you see this misalignment in a drawing,
you can't unsee it. You may find misaligned eyes
on one of your favorite pieces by a top comic
talent and it’s all you see about the piece from
then on

This is caused by the artist's own eyes or rath-

er a dominant eye than takes priority over the
other in aligning depth of field. Compensate for
this by flipping your drawing and looking at it ‘The Other Eye”, before and after correction.
from the back side (lightbox or computer scan) so that your eyes have “switched places" in
looking at the drawing. You will be surprised by how normal it can loo! k one waythen how
way-off it looks from the other side.

| hate to even point this out; my own work is guilty on so many counts. You get one ex-
ample ofthis out me then your assignment is to never again look for it in my art. Thanks!

ANaN ORK FEIN

RS Lastly, | need to say something about
line work in general. With so many
things to think about when drawing,
we sometimes forget to just let the
pencil go. The tighter you work, the
less lyrical and organic your linework
becomes. It's a daily balance to get the
form you want but the line you love.
Whether you work best by beginning
with circles and pears or just loose
lines that infer a shape, the goal is to
/ find the way that's best for you, Every
artist is different and some achieve
gorgeous results through methods you
may find awkward. In the end, it’s the
art people remember not how you
made it. But one thing is for sure,
the only way to get to a special lev-
el with your art is to draw your way
there. And if you have to draw you
might as well draw something beauti-
ful, right?

| recommend drawing women.

77
Beautiful is largely a matter of opinion but truth doesn’t care about our opinions. And the
truth about women is that they are beautiful. Period. You can debate the beauty of art, but
you can't debate the beauty of women. If you bring that love and respect to your art, you
will find your own way of capturing the magic, and | promise you, people will thank you for
your efforts. There are a lot of things people want to avoid in this world. The art ofbeautiful
women is not one of them. So follow your heart, make the first lines count, add the details
you love and give it energy. Nothing compares to the real thing, but a snapshot of a miracle
is a treasure worth keeping.

78
 HOWTODRAW FUNNY

Okay. So you're an artist.

You can draw a cartoon if you want—you don't need me to show you how—but
e your cartoons haven't struck a chord with people. They admire your ability
but you're not getting the “Love it!” and “Can't wait to see more!’ reaction you want.
You know there's something missing but you can’t put your finger on it. Despite
your obvious skill and ability, successful cartooning is eluding you. You have a prob-
lem and you don't even know where to begin finding a solution. In effect, you've
hit a wall

You're not going to find an answer in the average art instruction book or in an
internet search because the wall you've hit is positioned just past the point where
teachers dwell. Understanding what people respond to isn’t taught in a typical art
class. Anybody beyond the wall is a workingg pro who either has no idea how they
did it or they're not inclined to shai knowledge.

If you can draw that's not what's keeping you from cartooning success.A lousy
artist can be a wonderful cartoonist. Once you get to a competent level of ability,
the difference between failure and success is—you guessed it—in the mind. You
don't need a better pen or cuter characters, you need to know why you're draw:
ing in the first place. The answer to How to draw funny is found in the Why.

79

Read more FREE comics on

JOSGPrs
 “Winning isn’t funny.”
—Charles M. Schulz

So says the man who made funny drawings that made the world laugh for 50 years and
counting, If Schulz said it you can take it to the bank. He did. No cartoonist was more suc-
cessful than the creator of the world’s most lovable loser, Charlie Brown.

Want to consider that for a moment? Okay, consider this:

Joe was born with good looks, a sharp mind and a wonderful personality. He sailed through
school at the top of his class, used his doctorate to invent something the world loved and
became very wealthy. Joe’s beautiful wife and kids adored him and he never let them down.
Now Joe is retired and devotes all his time to his family, his many charities, and a priceless
collection of something or other

That's not funny, is it?

That's because winners aren't funny. Winning isn't funny. Nothing about winning is funny, It's
admirable, but not funny.

Okay so, gird your loins, dear hearts, because we're marching into the heart of Politically
Incorrect territory here...

Who and what do you think makes us laugh?

| don’t want to be the first one to say it. You say it. Out loud.

That's right: losers.

If winning isn’t funny, then the laughter must be coming from the other side of the spec-
trum... losing.

We laugh at people who are losing... losing the battle with logic or a faulty door knob, a
wardrobe malfunction, a web oflies coming untangled, a crabby boss or a pair of pants that
won't stay up... the list is endless. And the harder the loser tries the more we laugh. Shame
on us,! know, but that's the way we're wired.

Picture Joe The Winner walking on stage to accept his umpteenth Humanitarian Award.
He slips on a banana peel and goes down.The audience chuckles with restraint. He gets
up, slips again, and down. Audience laughs. Trying to be a good sport, Joe smiles through
his irritation, stands up, takes one step and—SLIP!—right down again. Now the audience is
howling with laughter Joe The Winner may have won in life, but he's losing the battle with
this banana peel and the crowd loves it.

Nobody laughed when Joe did everything right. But insert one awkward moment and he is
ours. Welcome to the club, Joe... now you're human. Now we can relate to you.

8!
Making cartoons about losing in life is tricky. You can't be callous. You can't make fun ofreal
pain and suffering or injuries that will never go away. No, the only time we laugh is when
we can identify with the character.. and we're pulling for them. We hoped Charlie Brown
would fly the kite past the tree, just once. We hoped Calvin and Hobbes would make it
down the hill intact in their little red wagon, just once. We hoped Opus the penguin would
win the day, just once. They never did but we were pulling for them because we liked them
he cartoonist made us like them because the cartoonist had empathy for the human
struggle.
ise) If the cartoonist had been evil incarnate his cartoons would have been heartless
and cruel and we would have turned away in disgust.

Fragile stuff, this losing for fun and profit.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. The pages below and at right are from Strang-
ers In Paradise, issue #39. The loser in SiP is Freddie. He brings most of it upon himself, but
there is something decent at his core and he keeps trying. That tugs on our hearts. SiP #39
shows the reality (below) and the allegorical (right) of Freddie's life.

Read more FREE co

In the real life sequence, we see a sad man going home alone. Even nature is dumping on
him and the door number that used to look like No. | now looks like No One

Freddie spends the issue thinking about the love of his life, Francine, and how he has blown
several chances to be with her. To illustrate the chances from enlightened viewpoints, |
drew Freddie and the SiP cast in the styles of several popular cartoonists, such as Wat-
terson, Breathed and Schulz. (That's why you see a Schulz style Freddie leaning on Charlie
Brown's meditating wall on page 3).

The page below shows a Watterson style Freddie with his invisible friend, Harvey the rab-
bit (might as well steal from the best). Freddie's boyish emotions for his Francine dilemma
run strong. He's up, he's down, but in the end he’s really battling himself. This means he's
never going to win and we know it. Harvey knows it.And in this issue ofSIP Freddie finally
knows it. It's heartbreaking, really, but you can write about the deepest wounds if you do so
with care and compassion for the subject. Seeing Freddie's inner child takes the sting out of
the painful reality we're examining.

IF 1S ANY CONSOLATION, SHE'S IN TENNESSEE VILL CALL INFORMATION

I KNOW WHERE FRANCINE 15, WITH HER MOTHER THEY! |AND GET HER NUMBER!
AVE A HOUSE IN THE. NO! LL GET ON A PLANE
COUNTRY,
ete JUST OUTSIDE AND SURPRISE HER!2
1' SERIOUS! /'LL WIN
HER BACK Yovit SEE?

SOWHAT? I's NoT

oo LAte! PEOPLE.
CHANGE THEIR MINDS!
EVER CALL FREDDIE
FEMUR ALOSER
AGAIN ?

YEAH, BuT Do No YES SHE IS!way

AND CASEY THEY KNOL Stee ELSE WOULD SHE
SANS SHE'S SHE'S A p REJECT ME?
LOST ALOT OF
WEIGHT. SHE BECAUSE.
LOOKS GREAT!

83
If you think about it, losing is at the heart of all literature.
The story is always about some-
body losing something. It's the same with cartoons, but where a novel can deal with losing
a war a cartoon deals with more immediate challenges, such as losing an argument.

"T said I'd live with you and have your children...
I didn’t say I'd MARRY you!”

Some cartoonists draw themselves in their work, using their own experiences, painful
memories and embarrassments to lend their work authenticity. I've no doubt that the adult
Charlie Brown now goes by the name Charles M. Brown and draws a comic strip that adult
Lucy thinks is stupid.

Drawing upon yourselfisa proven method for comic fodder if you're brave enough to put
the truth on paper for all the world to see. But you still need a keen eye for observation
to capture the truth and times of the world at large. Even Charlie Brown lived in a large
neighborhood full of kids and animals we all knew by name.
84
Obviously losing is not exclusive to man against man. It can be man against anything: nature,
logic, machinery, the laws of physics, tradition, government, good judgement, vice, expecta-
tions, habits, science... or maybe it’s just losing the fight against sugar:

“Hey lady, if you're goin’ in there, would you get us

another box of Sugar Bombs? Mikey's been cut off.”

There's nothing funny about stuffing your kid full of sugar; but it sure is funny when Mikey
does it.

Notice | used the girl two different ways in these cartoons. In the first, she was the funny
girl with her own logic—a comedy staple since the dawn of time, especially in male-female
duos—while in the second she is the “straight man” off which the younger generation
bounces their own goofy logic.

| wish Mikey would stop that. He's making me nervous.

85
At one point in Strangers In Paradise, the cast plays out their relationships in a comedy farce
of the superhero genre. Naturally Freddie is the super-villain but that proves to be more
than the poor guy can handle. You gotta love his determination though. Freddie soon blows
up the world and has to face 7 billion angry people in the afterlife. Heaven isn't happy with
him either—the traffic jam at the Pearly Gates is incredible.

RENTED Av How Am | SUPPOSED To

BLASTERLASER
ATOMIC 1 TOOAVE AGREED
We MONEY
TOUGHTOUR WS OVER
TAKE ROASHER Creel WITH
THE WORLD OF
STER PI OR A DISHLIASHER one TEIN ABOOE TF

FREDDIE 247

I THOUGHT You, YOU GET TIRED

WERE PREGNANT. m | OF PULLING
4 A

MIND Your
HERNIA,
DEAR
ei —S\.
JUST WAIT TIL1M
SUPREME RULER,
PAY! You'LL BE
WORKING FOR
THE PALACE
MONKEY/
| don't pick on Freddie for all my SiP comic relief. On this page, Francine suffers through
something we can all identify with: the pain and humiliation of that first day at the gym. Oh
you laugh, but more people have died in gyms than in blimps. So... yeah

Who hasn't been in the gym with the super-fit trainer proposing you “‘start easy" with 3,000
reps at 600 pounds. Yeah, work it. Feels good, doesn't it?
BEING THE SWEET-NATURED GIRL AT FIRST | PICTURED SOMETHING SUBTLE.
THAT 1 AM, | RESOLVED TO LET SOMETHING SO CLEVER IN IT'S CONCEPT AND
MONICA LIVE LONG ENOUGH TO GET EXECUTION THAT NO OVERWEIGHT JURY
ME IN SHAPE. BUT AFTER THAT, WOULD EVER CONVICT ME, BUT INSTEAD
IT WAS CURTAINS! WOULD PRAISE ME FOR

BUT THEN, I'D NEED A

CALIFORNIA JURY FOR
TWAT, WOULDN'T | ?
HOWEVER, ALL MY MERCIFUL
GOODWILL ‘WENT OUT THE WINDOW HERE FRANCINE,
ONCE MONICA BEGAN TORTUR- TUG ON THIS TIL
ING ME WITA HER ARRAY OF I GET BACK.
MANIACAL MACHINES!

Homca,

BY THE END OF THAT FIRST

WORKOUT | DECIDED TO
KILL MONICA WITH THE
NEAREST BLUNT, HEAVY
OBJECT AROUND...
My BUTT!
THATS IT... 'D SIT ON HER! “LET ME LIVE!” SHE'D HOWL.
{D SIT ON HER TIL SHE SCREAMED “OIE! YOU BUTTLESS FREAK!"
FOR MERCY AND POUNDED THE 'D SMILE, KNOWING MY
CARPET IN RECIPROCAL PAIN! MEASUREMENTS WERE
SAFE ONCE MORE FROM
THE TYRANNY OF FITNESS!

INVIGORATING,
ASNT IT?

87
 This is legal in my state.

88
We should talk about style.

Art, style... not the same thing. Any drawing is art. How it's drawn is style. People ignore
art every day, but they'll stop and stare at style. You need a style if you want an audience
Your style is your voice to the world. If you do it right, the world will recognize your“‘voice”
anywhere. If you'd like to take over the world—which | think is up for grabs at the mo-
ment—you need style.

You'll notice I've already used four or five art styles in this book. The cartoons I’m sharing
for this lesson span many years. You never stop learning, changing, evolving, hopefully into a
style all your own. In the beginning | copied everybody |liked. That's the most organic way
| know to learn and | highly recommend it.The learn-from-masters method is used by all
creative people, whether it's art, music or writing. Stand on the shoulders ofgiants to get a
head start on your journey otherwise you will find yourself wasting precious time struggling
with puzzles somebody else has already solved. Plus, it's fun to mix things up, trying this and
that. The more ground you cover the more you will know about what does and doesn’t
work for you. The opinions you form will shape your style.

“She looks so natural.”

89
Style doesn’t have to be elaborate. Sometimes style is a da Vinci, sometimes it's one perfect
line, like the Nike logo. No cartoonist had more style than George Herriman. His crudely
drawn comic strip, Krazy Kat, was in fact a brilliant work that painted a Freudian world
stripped of everything but the immediate. Cartoonist Larry Marder worked with the sarne
de-objectification in his Mensa-level work titled Beanworld. Strip away everything but the
point and youll find there’s nothing left to write about but the truth.

If you've never tried this style of cartooning, |suggest you give it a shot. The cartoon below
is an entire romance novel on one page. Or movie, for those who don't like to read.

% || & R # ||A ||4

& || 4a || lla

P A wv ly

a
=| a |
Vf WZ p> 1g > “1
| B

oe ||
of
&

ors oa >b | e r< e re]

-— e “J

(eae
|asa |clad

4REEL
R la, ® SlaY AVIAY

AYV|AY/AYIAY
90
| like drawing expressions. |rely on them to enforce the impact of my writing. When | want
to draw a scene but don’t want to get bogged down in the task of drawing | work with two
characters | call Bik & Beep. They're fun, fast to draw and they can do anything (but mostly
they argue). This visual style is rooted in old school cartooning; everything from pre-war
animation to Jules Feiffer Loosen it up and you'd be close to James Thurber

= Red or blue Neither.

Seah tere Huan? which one? thn independesct
N )

%
2

LooksVCyou want im The

game, You have ‘to Pick
No, wo. Red or blue« a team! RED ot eve
That's your choice - Tyatls THe CHOICE: oe
Anything else 19 jyot Brose ME! You'né RED ere ie
awoste of life. Ihave awind BLUE, OR HT, HAVE ly POR BOTH
ne ie weEe one oR THEoTteR! ym PurPLe!
\
%

You CAN'T BE FoR.

Bott! RED oRBLVE,
witicttove Do fou HATE ~ t+
AND Despisé pit# ALL oxay Fone. Are & ntyor
YoIR MGHT = Pypprel you a reddish DorWet-Tale-To
\ i ‘ porple er & list2
* bluish purple? if"
ic; ‘ —

ees
5 6 S,

Why are we so funny when we argue? Because we're so sure we're right.

Read more FREE co

Astyle cousin to old school comics strips and
cartoons is the magazine cartoon. The range
of styles in magazine cartoons is endless, of
course, but the one that comes to mind for
me is the simple pen.

he simple pen is meant to look like a quick

sketch ofagreat idea captured almost on the
spot by a clever cartoonist who managed to
walk in on something. With this approach,
the looser the funnier Charles Basotti, Liza
Donnelly, Leo Cullum and Michael Maslin vi
are four masters of this style. Research their <
work, laugh and learn. “No! We're out of remote controls. All gone!"

“You're my favorite project.”

Sometimes the simplest moments are the most delicious. Something said in casual conver
sation catches the ear of the other as a big red flag. This kind of remark can come from any
of us at any time and it's the cartoonist’s job to catch it when it happens.

In the case of this couple, she is saying something that will stick with him for a while.To
capture the moment, all that matters is the way they look when she says it.! don’t want you
looking at anything but them, so nothing else was drawn. It works.

92

Read more FREE comics on

The concepts of funny loser and simple style work together nicely for single panel car
toons mostly because cartoon losers make strong first impressions. Losers may be hard
to identify in real life, but in the world of comics, you know one when you see one. We
make sure of it.

Take the panel below for example; clearly a lovely couple enjoying an online dating app
first meeting. Marilyn is obviously captivated by Howard's charisma, contemplating what to
name their children. Howard is barely repressing his primal desires for Marilyn while staying
attentive to her needs. This couple is sexual dynamite.

No? Oh. Then it must be the other way... the losing version.

Marilyn found it impossible to stay awake when Howard

began the counter argument to his personal string theory.
“No more dating apps,” she slurred, then blacked out.

Notice that | broke one of the cardinal rules of good writing when | wrote:
“No more dating apps,” she slurred, then blacked out

The correct way to write that is:

“No more dating apps,” she said with a slur, then blacked out.

The problem is, the correct way is not as funny. Timing is everything in humor, and too many
words—even in a cartoon—spoil the joke. Strunk and White would not be happy with my
caption, but | would retort that there isn’t one thing funny in that little grammatical bible
So, here we enter the unsponsored area of cartooning... the area where we must simplify
grammar and punctuation to make things work. Cartoonists strive for words that read
verbatim to characters, not narrative. And correct punctuation in a cartoon would be like
actors quoting the punctuation in their lines—too much information. Cartooning works
best when delivered as a zip line to the point. Everything else, even the language used, is
optional and fully customizable.

A well-intentioned junior editor corrected the grammar on a Peanuts cartoon once and
the mild-mannered Schulz blew a fuse. Changing the punctuation changed the meaning of
the line. Great cartoonists have an expert grasp of grammar, then bend it to their will for
maximum effect.
93
 Add a few details, some shading,
and cross-hatching to your simple
line drawings and your cartoon
can change dramatically.

= It's the cross-hatching that gives

J this cartoon the nighttime look
that makes the joke obvious.
Since | was drawing this cartoon
with a pen | stuck with the same
pen for the large area of black |
{i wanted, but you could easily draw
this same scene with ink washes
or pencils or in full color The de-
cision is your choice of style. Any
style can work, in the right hands.

The cartooning style used here,

with the hose-like limbs, fat feet
with a few cross lines for wrin-
kles and depth, sharp lines both
straight and flowing to indicate
fabrics and shadows, the amount
of white space versus black... it's
all in the style of the editorial car
| if toons. Editorial cartoonists are a
lZ wy mnt world unto themselves. They are
7 often fantastic draftsmen who de-
veloped this style for its ability to
reproduce well on cheap paper.
Finally, Frieda came up with the
perfect solution to Jules’ snoring.

As a rule, editorial cartoonists were Political Science majors who could draw. They were
regarded as journalists of consequence and considered themselves to be newspapermen
and women in the purest sense. Most were anchored to a large paper, with their work syn-
dicated around the country. This long-honored art form has declined with the newspapers,
but | suspect it will rise again when the digital mediums sort themselves out.
so ®
It goes without saying that if you can draw a single panel cartoon you can draw a comic
strip so many editorial cartoonists also drew a strip for fun and extra income. Before the
internet, the world relied on newspapers for in-depth news and syndication could be very
rewarding. Because space was limited competition was fierce and only the best rose to the
top. Consequently, many of the top comic strips had to be, and were, brilliant.

Many of our popular expressions came from comic strips. “Happiness is...(fill in the blank)”
began life in Peanuts as “Happiness is a warm puppy.”

The words ‘'goon"' and “Jeep” first appeared in Elzie Segar’s newspaper strip Popeye. Eugene
the Jeep first appeared in the strip in 1936, two years before the first jeep wagons” were in
production. Eugene, Popeye's little jungle pet, was very popular with America. Known for his
small size and ability to solve any problem, Eugene the Jeep was in the public consciousness:
when the government's little transport vehicle came along needing a name.

The history of comic strips and their place in American culture is far too big for my little
How To book, but we have to salute the greats we're emulating so | recommend you re-
search the subject and learn whose shoulders you're standing on. Don't kid yourself. Show
most professional artists a work of art and they'll show you a precedent that was made a
generation or more before you began cartooning.

RE THE ONE RE THE ONE WHO

Don't TRY To Por THIS OFF ey heeheTHE SOURE | ALL THOSE
ONME, FREDDIE FEMURT | | RepouND ANP PRETTY LIES SO You
“1 ICAME oNto MES COULD BOINK MES

YouRE THE onE wito Pko-| |AND YOURE tie ONE

MREDONETEME TYDURE | |wno MADE ACoMmerc| | YOURE CRAZY
AWE wHo KEPT APIC-| |FOOL oF WIMbE LF PRE- ABOUT HER}!
TURE OF ANOTHER GIRL TENDING To BE INDIF-
IN YouR WALLET THE. FERENT WHEN EVERY-
WHOLE TiME WE WERE BoPY KNOWS...
MARRIED? aay

|
Kets aig ve ee ey
—=— ~.
95
GharPaccer
s
Bottom line... it's all about characters.

It doesn’t matter how pretty your art is if you don’t have great characters to draw. And
great art won't keep readers interested for the simple reason that they're called “readers”
not“lookers”’

Readers will overlook crappy art to read a great story. They will even remain loyal through
times of lean story lines if they love the characters. It's not the art they love, it's not the
clever words, it's not even you the creator, they love. No, it's the characters they fall in love
with. Everything else, including the creator, is just a delivery mechanism. If your ego can
handle that you're going to be just fine.

When the cast of Strangers In Paradise developed a cult following | felt like the director of a
popular TV series, People didn’t come to conventions to see me, they came to see Katchoo.
Not finding her, they reluctantly talked to me and gave me messages for her | delivered
them all. Katchoo is famous, I'm just her cartoonist. |thank my lucky stars for that.

NO, OF COURSE NOT.

IH Sores. 1 ust 7SNEFIE ANOTHER KLEENEX ?
eR? ALL THE TIME
Now)... AND IT REALLY
PISSES ME
BEC SE... SSNIFF JUST GE
ME THE Box.