How To Draw A Cartoon Kingfisher

How to draw a cartoon kingfisher

If you’ve searched through a flock of different kingfisher images, there’s a chance that you will have come across a photo similar to the above cartoon. It’s a very popular image, giving the bird a convenient place to perch and a bit of a cheeky air.

In this article we’re going to look at a few points for how to draw a cartoon kingfisher, along with some suggestions for what to draw.

Here’s what we’re going to cover

  • Points to look out for when drawing

  • What to draw

  • Ideas for cartoons

Points to look out for when drawing

Points to remember when drawing a kingfisher

Drawing a kingfisher breakdown

What to draw

Here are some kingfisher reference images you can trace or copy.

Kingfisher reference images

Kingfisher reference image

We usually think of blue and orange when a kingfisher comes to mind, however in India there are a wide array of kingfishers in different colour schemes.

Kingfishers of India

Ideas for cartoons

Now let’s try and generate some ideas for cartoons featuring your kingfisher.

Mind maps are very useful in helping to come up with ideas. Try adding to the one below.

Kingfisher mind map

I played around with the idea of kingfishers perching on some unusual things. I then thought what other birds or creatures fished in the same river, and came up with a heron. That seemed like an ideal perch for a kingfisher! Much to the annoyance of the heron!

Kingfisher cartoon

Here’s what we covered

  • Points to look out for when drawing

  • What to draw

  • Ideas for cartoons

I hope that you found this article on how to draw a cartoon kingfisher useful.

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A Duck That Doesn’t Go Quack

I’m going to go through how I got the idea for the above cartoon and how a pair of crocodiles ended up selling ice cream.

I’m currently doing the Da Vinci cartooning course. One of the assignments this week was to rework a scene from Benji Davies’ The Storm Whale. Here I’ve swapped out the original human characters for a pair of giraffes.

After I was looking over the picture and thought it would be cool to have something emerge out of the sea and onto the beach…

I then stumbled on this old family photo of me aged 8 at Hunstanton beach standing next to a DUKW amphibious truck from WWII.

They used to use them on the beach to take people out to see the seals which would be basking on a nearby sandbank. I used to think the DUKW was really, really cool. (I still do!). So I thought that would be the perfect vehicle to emerge from the sea.

As I started to draw it Its shape reminded me of a crocodile, so I thought why not have a crocodile driving it?

At this point I hadn’t come up with a reason for it pulling up onto the beach, but then I thought such a vehicle would be ideal for selling ice cream on remote beaches where it’s difficult for more conventional ice cream vans to reach.

Do you want some help with your own cartooning? Or perhaps you’d like me to create an original cartoon you. Get in touch and let me know how I can help you.

Austin-Healey Cartoon

Sally and Dash the spaniel are taking this rather lovely Austin-Healey 3000 out for a spin.

Would you like me to draw your car for you?

Whatever the make or model of car you drive, I can draw it for you. I can even include your dog! Send me a message using the form below.

Content Toons

I get it…you’ve seen those lame stock images with the unnervingly bleached teeth, those business suits that look as though they have just come out of a shop and you’ve even tried to pretzel yourself into their odd poses but you just can’t do it.

The same old scenes roll around again and again…such as folks high-five-ing each other…

In fact this group of happy meeting attendees are so busy high-fiving each other that they fail to notice Gerald the Goat sneaking in to raid the fruit bowl.

Little do they know that he’ll end up eating their stock images as well…because seriously, they’re not ideal, are they?

Have you ever felt the frustration of being unable to find outstanding images for…

  • Newsletters

  • Brochures

  • Articles

  • Magazines

  • Blog posts

  • Sales pages

…and ended up despondent, annoyed and knowing that once again you have to compromise with clip art

Anyone can find images from the net, but cartoons created exclusively for you really help to your message to catch the eye and stand out.

Whether you’re in marketing, sales, or coaching you’re desparate to cut down the time it takes looking for images, so you can be more productive in your business.

What if you could leave it all up to me?

Imagine how much time, energy, frustration and money you could save.

And also imagine finally having bespoke original cartoons and illustrations created just for you.

Introducing…

Content Toons

  • Daily, weekly or monthly content created for you which means that you only have to post it.

  • Personalised images to make you stand out so that your message is more likely to get across

  • The complete opposite from standard stock images that everyone else is using

What is the style of illustration?

  • Simple

  • Complex

  • Strip Cartoon

Simple

A simple single panel monochrome cartoon similar to the one above.

A square format is used for easier viewing on mobile devices.

Complex

A more complex full-colour cartoon similar to the one above.

A square format is used for easier viewing on mobile devices.

Cartoon Strip

A four-panel cartoon strip, similar to the above example.

A square format is used for easier viewing on mobile devices.

What are the packages?

  • Daily

  • Weekly

  • Monthly

Daily

A simple image that can be posted everyday of the year.

The images are supplied in blocks of thirty, so that you always have plenty of content ahead of time.

$18,250 ($50 per image)

Weekly

An image for every week of the year.

The images are supplied in blocks of five, so you always have plenty of content ahead of time.

Simple: $2600 per year.

Complex: $5200 per year.

Cartoon Strip: $10,400 per year.

Monthly

An image for every month of the year.

The images are supplied in blocks of four, so you always have plenty of content ahead of time.

Simple: $600 per year.

Complex: $1200 per year.

Cartoon strip: $2400 per year.

You’re probably wondering by now who is behind Cartoon Club….time to…

Meet Rob the Cartoonist…

This is me at the Cartoon Museum in London.

I’ve been drawing cartoons my entire life. I draw a lot, so it’s nice to share the time I spend drawing with other people. I love to help other people with their own cartoons, I also learn a lot myself in the process.

I work as a freelance cartoonist and illustrator, and run courses helping people with their cartooning.

Here’s what folks had to say…

Rob created several cartoons for a workshop I ran for the senior management team of a global business. His cartoons brought my points to life, made the participants laugh, and helped them remember what they’d learned. I used the cartoons on screen and in my hand-outs afterwards, and I was thrilled with how Rob listened to my brief, interpreted the ideas, and put together some attention-grabbing, memorable cartoons. Highly recommended!

Jamie Veitch - Jamie Veitch Consulting

A few questions you might have…

Can I have you on retainer?

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If I need something different in a hurry can you do it?

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Can I ask you a question at any time?

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Fill out the form below and let me know how I can help you.

Imagine the huge ‘wow! effect’ cartoons could add to your business.

Train Cartoons

Have you got a train you want cartooning?

I can draw…

  • A cartoon featuring your favourite train

  • A unique gift for you to give to a train lover

  • A cartoon to promote your train club event or occasion

  • Something extra personalised to send to customers, or to use in marketing for your train-related business

  • Cartoon content for your car blogs, newsletters, or social media

Drop me a mail using the form below and I can get drawing for you.

Different Ways To Use A Background

Today we’re going to look at some different ways to use the same background. I have certain backgrounds that I return to use again and again.

Once you’ve taken the time and energy to create a background, it seems a shame to only use it once. Instead you can file it away and use it again.

Because you’ve already got some backgrounds to hand, it frees you up to concentrate on the characters and the gag, which is what most folks tend to want to do anyway.

I’ll show some how you manipulate the background in different ways so as to not show exactly the same thing again and again.

I got the idea to base this article around a cafe scene after being shown a really neat drawing of a Paris cafe that a participant came up with during Cartoon Hour.

Can you guess what movie this particular cafe features in?

Here’s what we’re going to cover:

  • Use the background again exactly as it is

  • Use a section

  • Add something behind the current background

  • Modify the background

  • Zoom in

You might be wondering why I didn’t include zoom out seeing as I listed zoom in. The thing with zooming out is that if you do so with a background you’ve drawn, you’ve got to draw more of the background to fill the scene. Feel free to do so if you want to give it a try, but I’ll keep it simple for this article.

Use the background again exactly as it is

Use a section

In this cartoon the woman is sitting in a different cafe on the other side of the street. The scene behindis viewed as if through a window.

Add something behind the current background

Here Zogon the Terrible has decided to go on a weekend break to Paris.

Modify the background

Here I’ve turned the cafe into a shop by changing some of the details.

Zoom in

With it being a cafe, an obvious choice would be to zoom in on a couple of diners. Instead I chose to focus on someone perusing the menu board.

Summary

  • Use the background again exactly as it is

  • Use a section

  • Add something behind the current background

  • Modify the background

  • Zoom in

Do you want help with your cartooning?

Whether you’re new to the wonderful world of cartooning, or have been doodling for a while, I can give you some ideas and exercises to help your drawing regardless of your starting point.

Just add your details below and type ‘help’ in the subject line.

The Background Course - Drawing Simple Backgrounds For Cartoons

Sally Sells Seashells Sitting On The Seashore

We can see Sally and her seashells, but where’s the seashore?

Has the tide gone out taking it with it?

It’s always far more fun to come up with characters and draw them. Sometimes backgrounds are seen as an afterthought.

You might be tempted to not draw them at all.

Perhaps Sally’s seashore could be shrouded in fog to spare you from drawing the background…

Hmm…maybe not…

Have you ever struggled to come up with a simple background for a cartoon?

You’ve probably spent a lot of time of effort into getting the characters to look right, and worked on the gag. However, the background is often an afterthought, something to quickly finish before going onto the next cartoon.

What if creating simple backgrounds wasn’t such a big deal and something you could learn to do quickly?

Presenting The Background Course - Drawing Simple Backgrounds For Cartoons

The Background Course will show you some simple techniques you can start applying immediately to your cartoons.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • Simple line backgrounds

  • The horizon line

  • Icons

  • Simple to complex

  • Complex to simple - stripping away the detail

  • Recycling backgrounds

  • Creating depth in backgrounds

Here are some sample pages:

Some Frequently Asked Questions:

Can you show me how to be a great cartoonist?

I can show you some techniques to help you improve your cartooning, but nobody became a great or even good cartoonist as the result of doing one course or reading one book. This is a skill you can learn like any other - and like learning any skill it takes time to put it into practice.

What equipment do I need to do this course?

You don’t need anything other than a pen and paper. However, feel free to use any hardware or drawing app you like. The principles work equally well if you are working with the latest tech or prefer to go old school.

Why should I listen to you?

I’ve drawn thousands of cartoons, and made an awful lot of mistakes while doing so. Along the way I’ve picked up quite a few tips and tricks which have made my cartoons a lot better - and can do the same for you too

Why should I listen to you?

I’ve drawn thousands of cartoons, and made an awful lot of mistakes while doing so. Along the way I’ve picked up quite a few tips and tricks which have made my cartoons a lot better - and can do the same for you too

What if I don’t like the course?

While I try hard to make courses and to answer any student request, I realise that sometimes it just doesn’t work out. My standard refund policy is a 30-Day, 100% Money-Back Guarantee. If you don't love this, email me at: rob_middleton2002@yahoo.co.uk any time during the first 30 days and show me you're doing the exercises and not getting results. I’ll refund 100% of the purchase price.

Sounds good! How much is it?

The Background Course is $9. Click below to get started.

 “I loved how Rob broke everything down into simple blocks. I tend to spend all my time concentrating on getting technically good at cartooning,  so coming up with ideas was just another (hard) thing to do. Rob made it much easier.” - Vicky Frazer-  Moxie Books, Hertfordshire UK.

Storytails - Storytelling For Cartoon Strips

 “Rob's courses are amongst some of the most easy to understand, and immediately accessible courses around. He breaks all concepts down in to it's simplest parts and is always on hand to provide feedback and answer any questions you may have. He truly embodies the beginner's mindset and can put you at ease very quickly with even the most technical aspects of drawing. I highly recommend any of his current and future courses!” - Nigel D’Souza, Melbourne Australia.

Hi, I’m Rob the cartoonist behind this course.

Click below to get the course

How To Draw A Cartoon Golden Retriever

How to draw a cartoon golden retriever

Today we’re going to look at how to draw a cartoon Golden Retriever. The Golden Retriever is one of the most popular and distinctive dog breeds, so I’m going to give you a few pointers to help you draw them.

The above image will show you some rough shapes to keep in mind when drawing Golden Retrievers. You can be flexible with these shapes, for instance the tail won’t always remain a triangle shape…especially when wagging!

How to doodle a golden retriever

The above guide shows you the steps to doodling a Golden Retriever. You might want to try tracing the above image before trying your own version.

Golden retriever scale reference

Lesser-Known Dog Breeds - The Red Rowser

Which dog breed has the loudest bark? Upon pondering that question, your mind might turn to various breeds employed as guard dogs, or perhaps the hound that belonged to your ex-neighbour who would keep you up all night.

However, there is one breed that truly barks the most boisterously - The Red Rowser.

Origin of the Breed

The breed dates back to 1850 and the origin of traction engines. The engines were slow moving, and of course extremely dangerous to nearby pedestrians. At first men were employed to walk in front of the engines to wave a red flag, and to shout if needed to warn folks to get out of the way.

Understandably, this proved to be a quite tedious job, and it was often difficult to find people willing to slowly trudge in front of traction engines. The idea was hit upon to breed a dog with the mightiest of barks, coupled with a bright red coat to stand out and grab attention.

The breed became popular, and spread as the use of traction engines spread throughout the British Isles and around other countries too.

Spring To Fame…

The most famous Red Rowser by far was Rufus, who was employed by Lord Twangley-Fordham’s bid for the World Land Speed Record in 1930. The driver employed was noted aviatrix Kitty Hawksley, who after attempting various flying records thought she’d try her hand on land instead.

A Spot of Bother…

Unfortunately the team was besieged with various problems such as oil leaks, engine fires, and even running out of dog biscuits. The attempt culminated with crashing into the sea off Daytona Beach resulting in ending of the record bid.

By this time the Red Rowser’s popularity had started to dwindle as traction engines were gradually phased out of use. However it can still be found at vintage steam and motor shows accompanying the splendid examples of transportation and machinery from days gone by.

I Can Draw Your Dog!

Fill in the details below and type ‘woof!’ In the subject line, and I’ll get back to you.

On The Drawing Board - ‘Overgrown’

I recently attended the Crick Boat Show, which is Britain’s largest inland waterways festival. I prepared some cartoons to show to some of the exhibitors and today I’m going to go over the steps taken to create one of them.

Outlining the Cartoon

As I work in layers, you can see some of the background through the transparent layer containing the character.

Colouring the Boat and Character

Seeing as the background is going to be mainly green, I thought having a red boat would make for a nice contrast.

Starting to Colour the Background

I’m now dabbing on the greens having applied the water using the water colour tool in Procreate.

Putting Finishing Touches to the Background

I’ve almost finished the background now. I gradually build up the background using washes and dabbing with the brush set at about 30% opacity.

Adding the Dinosaurs!

I’m a firm believer that many pictures can be improved by adding a dinosaur or two…

The Completed Cartoon

And that’s a wrap! It was a fun cartoon to draw.

Do You Want Some Help With Your Cartooning?

I offer one-to-one cartooning coaching to help you with all as@edits of drawing cartoons.

Fill your details below, and type ‘help’ in the subject line and I’ll get in touch.

Create A Canal Cartoon

Recently I’ve been drawing some canal cartoons. Today I thought I’d turn it over to you and give you a chance to draw your own narrowboat cartoons. So here are a couple of different almost completed cartoons, one of which has two variants.

All you have to do is to complete the scene by adding a character or an object.

What’s On The Roof?

What do you think might be on the roof of this boat?

What’s Making The Noise?

What do you think is making the racket that is forcing this chap to put his hands over his ears?

Entirely Up To You

I’ve now removed the chap from the previous picture, and it’s entirely up to you what characters and objects to add to complete the cartoon.

Need Some Help With Your Cartooning?

I offer 1 - to - 1 cartooning coaching to help you with your drawing regardless of your starting put. Click below for more details.

Create A Creature!

Create a creature using the above shapes. Here are the rules:

  1. Use only the above shapes.

  2. You can use each shape more than once if you like.

  3. Feel free to colour it in when you’ve finished.

You can see one I created below, but try to doodle your own one first.

Do you need some help with your cartooning?

I can help you out with some helpful hints and new ideas. Fill in your details and type ‘help’ in the subject line, and I’ll get back to you.

Canal Boat Cartoons

Canal cartoon

I recently went to the Crick Boat Show, which is the largest inland waterways festival in the UK.

A friend of mine lives on a narrowboat and gave me some ideas for canal-themed cartoons. Here are a few of the cartoons that we came up with.

Falling overboard.

Do you have a narrow boat?

I can draw an original cartoon for you featuring your own boat. Fill in the details below and type ‘draw my boat’ in the message line and I’ll get in touch.

Zach Bitter - The Mindset To Break A 100-Mile Record

Zach Bitter - The Mindset To Break A 100-Mile Record

Here’s a set of Illustrated Podnotes I did to go with the episode where Chris talks with Zach Bitter - The Mindset To Break A 100-Mile Record.

Zach Bitter is an ultramarathon runner and coach who held world records for the 100-mile run and the 12-hour run.

Understanding what it takes to run an ultramarathon is one thing, but doing it at a world record pace is something else. I wanted to find out what the mindset of an ultra runner can teach the rest of us about resilience, dedication and commitment.

On The Drawing Board - Noisy Ducks

Canal boat cartoon

I recently attended the Crick Boat Show, which is Britain’s largest inland waterways festival. I prepared some cartoons to show to some of the exhibitors and today I’m going to go over the steps taken to create one of them.

Outlining the Cartoon

I went for a boat moored against the bank. I work in layers on Procreate, so you can see part of the background through the boat at this point.

Colouring the Boat and Character

Here we see the owner covering his ears. I’d drawn a few red boats previously, so I went for a blue one this time.

Colouring the Sky and Water

I used the wash tool in Procreate to add the water and sky.

Adding Greenery

To add the hedge and trees, I used the wash tool again to dabble in the colours.

Adding Lots of Ducks!

Narrow boat cartoon

I went for male and female ducks. I wanted to add as many as possible in different poses without making the cartoon cluttered. Almost finished now…

The Completed Cartoon

Narrow boat and ducks

And here in fine feathered voice we have the noisy ducks!

That was a fun one to draw, and I’m sure that some of the ducks will be appearing in other cartoon.

Do you have a narrow boat?

I can draw an original cartoon of your boat. Drop me a mail below.

Non-Ideal Dog Breeds For Canal Boats

Many folks who travel, relax, or live on canal boats bring their dog along with them. Many dogs seems to be quite natural boat dwellers. However, some breeds take to the canals less readily than others.

Here’s a brief guide to some non-ideal dog breeds for canal boats.

St. Bernards

St. Bernard dog on canal boat

Springer Spaniel

Springer Spaniel on canal boat.

Siberian Husky

Siberian Husky on canal boat

Border Collie

Border Collie on canal boat.

Cartoon Clinic - Improving A Cartoon

In this Cartoon Clinic, I’m going to look at a recent cartoon and some ways to improve it.

First Version

The feedback received was to have a single vegetable and make it way bigger than the frying pan.

Second Version

This looks better than the previous one, however, the frying pan is overlapping the chef.

Third Version

I put the frying pan down on the stove, and placed the assistant’s arm around the pumpkin.

Anything I’ve Missed?

Is there anything else you’d change with the above cartoon?

Here are a few points to ponder:

  • The characters

  • The foreground

  • The background

  • The speech

Over To You

Now have a look at one of your cartoons and see if there is anything you could improve.

Lesser-Known Dog Breeds - The Ruritanian Guard Dog

The Ruritanian Guard Dog


The Tiny European country of Ruritanian was always looking to other countries to see if it could adopt any new ideas to help it punch above its weight on the world stage, or simply to help to make itself more visible.

On a cultural visit to Britain, one of the Ruritanian ministers was particularly taken with the guards to be found outside of Buckingham Palace in London. The guards there are famous for being able to stand motionless for hours on end, regardless of whatever is going on in the vicinity.

Unfortunately, the Ruritanian palace security budget was equally as tiny as the country, and didn’t run to funding guards to be on duty all the time. So in place of soldiers, it was decided to carefully breed a new type of guard dog able to remain statuesque all-day long if required.

One drawback was discovered immediately upon the dogs entering service. Throughout the breeding program, the ‘remain still’ part had been over-emphasized at the expense of the ‘deter intruders’ part. So it was soon found that the dogs would not flinch regardless of circumstance - even if an actual intruder was right in front of their noses.

And so it was that the Ruritanian Guard dog had to be phased out in favour of real-life guards.

The Gargoyle Dog?

This looked like the end-of-the-line for this breed almost as soon as it had started. Fortunately, the breed was kept going by the Bishop of Ruritanian who used the, as replacements gargoyles on cathedrals and churches throughout the land.

The Hound Of Liberty?

In recent times the breed has also gained a cult rolling from human statue performers.

Coat Variants

Ownership Notes

Not exactly the most exciting of breeds due to the fact that hey don’t do much…in fact nothing at all..

However, this is balanced by the fact that they have a very low exercise requirement. They are also unusual in being a big breed that doesn’t have a huge appetite due to not burning much energy.

They are great with small children due to the fact that kids can climb all over them and the dogs don’t mind at all. However, due to the dog’s sedentary nature, children tend to get bored with them rather quickly.

Canine Coat Racks?

It should be noted that the dogs take offense if they are used as extra coat racks at parties.Not exactly the most exciting of breeds due to the fact that hey don’t do much…in fact nothing at all.