I draw Gerald the Goat more than any other character, and I always have fun penning his latest escapades. However, it struck my that I’ve been drawing him in a limited number of poses, so I thought it would be good to introduce a little more variety to his character.
To do I came up with the following plan:
Trace goat poses
Copy goat poses
Cartoonify the poses
Think up some gags using the poses.
Trace goat poses
I first found a bunch of goat silhouettesand traced them. Tracing images helps me to get used to how the actual proportions should look.
Copy goat poses
I then split the tracings onto two different layers, and left space beside each images so that I could coop them.
Cartoonify the poses
I now created a transparent layer on top of the copies and drew them again, making them more cartoony and to look like Gerald.
I found this surprisingly tricky to do. It felt a bit awkward trying to match Gerald’s proportionswith the actual goat proportions. He sometimes came out looking a bit odd, and so I had to do some of them a few times.
It highlighted the following points to me:
I’ve drawn Gerald in a limited range of poses before. Drawing those poses feels comfortable, so trying some new will feel a bit awkward at first.
A cartoon doesn’t have to exactly look like the real thing, although it should echo it and contain the basic essence of it.
I need a lot more practice drawing Gerald in different poses!
Think up some gags
No gags as yet, however, one of the poses was ideal to show Gerlad peering around a corner…possibly looking out for the leopard…
What’s next?
From Goats to Gorillas…and Gerbils to Goanas…You name it - I can draw it from you!
I also put out a Cartoon Newsletter, featuring a while host of characters and cartooning tips. Add you name and best email address and I’ll wig a copy your way.