A Book for Novice Cartoonists
There are so many books on the subject of cartooning and drawing stylized characters, it makes the mind boggle. As cartooning is *ahem* one of my deepest passions, I’ve bought and read more than my fair share of books on the subject. In my humble opinion, there is one book that I would recommend, without hesitation, for ANY cartoonist who is looking to up their game in their art.
And that book is titled “100 Tuesday Tips” by Griz and Norm, which retails for $40 + shipping directly from their website. Norm (Normand Lemay) and Griz (Griselda Sastrawinata-Lemay) are a married duo who work as feature animation artists at the Walt Disney Animation Studio.
What makes this book so valuable for intermediate cartoonists is the chock full of useful, practically applicable tips and tricks. Whether you struggle with character poses or color theory, or drawing hands and feet – Griz and Norm break them down using techniques that are bound to help cartoonists improve.
There’s also an immensely useful section on composition layout, with a specific focus on effectively staging your characters within a scene to evoke mood and depth. These techniques are regularly used in storyboarding and sequential arts.
While many of these “Tuesday Tips” are available freely online (check Pinterest), I like having all the tips in one convenient book. It’s the one book I wish I had when I started drawing comics.
-Krishna
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