Every week I run ‘Cartoon Hour’, which is an hourly drawing session where folks get together to cartoon at the same time. I join in and draw a cartoon from scratch.
Cartoon Hour is held on Zoom and is a great opportunity to get some cartooning done, while enjoying the group atmosphere of everyone working on their own pictures. After the hour is up, we show each other what we’ve been working on. It can sometimes be tricky to find time to draw, so Cartoon Hour is time set aside only for this.
Last time, I drew the above cartoon, so for the rest of this article I’m going to go through the steps of creating it.
I came across a particularly stunning photograph of a Balkan Lynx.
I thought that I’d first draw a realistic version of it and then look at some gags to go with it.
Initial outline
Here’s the ouline that I’m going to use. I might come back to this in a subsequent picture to exagerrate and cartoonify it.
Putting the palette together
You can see both the palette I’m going to use to colour it, and also the reference picture.
Starting to colour the background
I’m a watercolour tool set at 30% opacity. I decided to create the background by doing a kind of dot picture by dabbing with the tool, rather than using washes.
The background takes shape
I added a lot more trees to the background than appears in the original photo, as I wanted more of a darker background to put behind the lynx.
Colouring the lynx
I’ve now coloured the lynx using the same dabbing technique. I’ve also enlarged the lynx.
The finished picture
To complete the picture, I added some darker patches directly behind the lynx, as well as some shadow and hatching. I also added some different tones to the background.
What’s Next?
I put out a Cartoon Newsletter, which as well as containing a whole host of characters and cartooning tips, also contains information about Cartoon House. Add your name and best email address to the orange box below and I’ll wing a copy your way.