Not funny or cute

I'm not tired of drawing girls yet, but I really want to start doing real projects on my own- comics, shorts, whatever...and to tell the kind of stories I'd like to tell I can't just draw girls all the time (most the time maybe, but not all the time).

SO! Anyhow I found an amazing book filled with mugshots of old criminals from the early part of the century, and it really inspired me to try drawing some menfolk for a change!



I don't like that these are so realistic (compared to how I normally like to draw), but it really felt like I was 15 again trying to learn to draw. I've never been comfortable caricaturing something I don't understand, and man faces are a mystery to me, hence the weird shading and stuff.

P.S. This drawing is flat

I've been concentrating on drawing girls since I was a teenager...I started off drawing realistic and lovingly rendered drawings of Bjork and such, and as I got older added more and more girl shapes to the library in my head. Now drawing girls is something I do out of comfort, it makes me happy and calm! However...drawing men is like drawing in the dark. I don't have a library of man shapes. I can't make them up because I don't understand them yet.

P.S. It's hard to figure out unique eye shapes when in profile, at least for me

These ones above were from my first attempt. I was proud at first but now they look weird to me.

OH!!! Also, these are all profile drawings for a reason- profiles are easier to understand and draw (at least for me)!!! The shapes all come clear- how long a nose sticks out, how deep the eyes are sunken into the face, the shape of the chin. Of course you can make out most of those in a front view, but it's much harder to draw the volumes. Unless of course you're Jim Smith or something and can draw anything! I did some front views...they will not be shown here today!
>__<;



These ones above are my favorites that I did!! Oh, and as you can see I reverted and had to draw a lady mugshot. Hooray for short attention spans!!



A scary man who's likeness I didn't do justice at all...and a horrible drawing of a beat up lady that I got tried of drawing and didn't finish.


LASTLY!


Here are some shitty drawings done while eating dinner. I'm not sure these drawings were worth all the words I typed out. Actually I'm positive they're not- but it's good to try something new for a change! Thanks for looking!

OH ALSO
Here are two etsy stores you ought to visit! They will cleanse your eyes with nice colors and pretty pictures. If you like drawings of girls and interesting things, then you will like these!

The Miss Withers Shop

Sorry, this one's not for sale, I bought it already :P

The Marlo Meekins Shop

Thanks pals!!

Freeway *UPDATE!* Art show alert!

*Update!!*
I'm gonna be in the Fruits Go Go art show, along with Gabe Swarr, Sandra Equihua, and lots of other cool artists! It's at the Monkeyhouse Gallery in Silverlake. Click here for details!


This is an older drawing that I posted on here a while back, only it's huge now. I inked and colored it on this funny crinkly old paper that did really cool things to the marker ink. Also the design on her skirt is sewn on with embroidery thread. I wanted to do more with string but ran out of time!


Here's how big it is, although now that it's in a huge frame it looks even bigger! I'm not sure I'll be at the gallery opening on Saturday, but I might be. I hope some of you LA based bloggers will stop by and take a look at all the cool art!


OK! Enough about that.
My friend Ricky (my friend who does 1930 Nitemare Theatre on Dumm Comics) loaned me an awesome movie! It's called Freeway, and aside from just liking the movie, I also got really inspired to draw the main character.


The movie stars Reese Witherspoon...it's one of her earliest roles I think, as she looks super young. These drawings are not very good caricatures of Reese...instead I just kind of wanted to have fun trying to draw a simplified version of her character in the movie.


These first ones are pretty feeble. You can tell which drawings I liked though because I colored them!


Reese is really great in this movie. She plays a screwed up teenage girl in a modern "Little Red Riding Hood" story. She's angsty but goofy, and really likable. She makes great expressions too! Kiefer Sutherland plays the big bad wolf.


You know, Reese always gets crap for her prominent chin, but her chin wasn't the most interesting feature on her face for me. She's got this great big round cranium, flared, downward pointing nostrils, and a really cool mouth that I can't actually draw. Really very cute. I cheated on drawing her lips in these drawings. When I tried to draw them like real lips, they didn't look like hers. Now I have a new way of drawing mouths! Hooray! I couldn't figure out her eyes, though. They're kind of different in every drawing.


Her expressions are great! She makes a hundred expressions per monologue. If you want practice drawing real girl expressions, go rent this movie! And get "But I'm a Cheerleader" too!


I drew all these while watching the movie, but the bloody one was just made up.


Ok, that's it for now! Now it's time for more important business!! After years of begging my boyfriend, he finally caved and let me adopt a kitten! I won't talk too much about him now (there's already enough to read here), but you can expect a huge kitten post soon!

This is what Little Ricky has to say to you!


Remember to try and always adopt pets from shelters if you can! Lots of animals need loving homes! And be nice to your animals, or I'll kick your ass!

Fun time post

Thanks for the feedback everyone! This post is gonna have lots of crap in it.

To get started, an uninspired and weird picture!

Try and interpret it! Oh I'm so deep (lie).

Also in the comments of my last post a few people asked for inking tips. I'm gonna talk a little bit about how I ink, but remember that there isn't just one way to do it- if you are looking for lines that are more like old fashioned cartoons, then this could be helpful. Lots of people ink their drawings in other ways and that's perfectly fine too!

So first I chose a drawing to ink!! I chose this one because it's simple and would be easy to ink quickly since it's just an example. Note: I know this drawing isn't great- her elbow is in a really weird place...but ignore that for now!


So before I got started, I went over the basic rules to remember for inking:

1. No parallel lines!
2. The larger the shape, the thicker the line
3. The smaller the shape, the thinner the line
4. The closer a shape is to you, the thicker the line (example: a foreshortened hand coming towards you)
5.Follow the drawing you are inking- don't change interesting shapes
6. Follow the lines through
7. Avoid tangents
8. Use thick to thick lines (lines taper at the ends)
9. Don't round out corners and angles in the art (this is easy to overlook)
10. If you are inking traditionally, flip between the ink drawing and the original art to make sure you aren't toning down your drawing.

Also- and this is important!!!!! Inking isn't going to fix your drawing! If you aren't confident in the drawing you want to ink, then fix it before you try to polish it up. Inking is superficial- anyone can learn to do it with practice. The drawing underneath is what counts!

Here I inked the drawing poorly at first, then did it over again trying to follow the inking rules that guru Fred Osmond taught me so long ago. Also I inked it in Flash, but the rules still apply (getting smooth lines in Flash is kind of a bitch, let me warn ya).


I hope this makes sense! Inking is hard to explain with words.

Here's the colored drawing, just for fun! I like her color scheme!



I think a lot of people assume I ink with brush pens, but I'm horrible at it...on this post I explain my tools!
Also, more inking tips HERE!!

On my last post Ben suggested drawing different types of girls, like American girls, French girls, etc...I like that idea! I'm gonna look into it...for now here are some Russian cutes that I found on a mail order bride site.


A lot of people suggested cool ideas for blog posts! I'll have to get on some of those. One person asked for more theories and crap, so if you are into that kind of thing, you can read some theories in the second part interview with Jason Anders here! Or you can click this weird drawing!


I know not everyone likes reading long winded crap, but I hope some of you will! Jason's questions were really interesting and fun to answer and I almost went off on a few rants. Check it out and then come back and tell me if you agree, disagree, or think I'm weird!

Lets see what else...oh, here are some notebook doodles drawn veeerrrrrry slowly and absentmindedly because I was watching a movie that I was into and not paying attention. Also the pen doesn't work if you draw fast. Does it even look like my normal drawings??

I kind of like Miss Squirrel

OH and another thing! This week's Skadi comic (the one explaining bush beasts) had a couple of "in jokes" in it, but so far only one has been discovered. Check it out and see if you can find it! Click for a direct link to the comic!


And lastly...I found an old sketchbook from '93/'94, and thought these primitive Beatles drawings were funny, as well as almost cute! Ah, a young girl in love!


That's all folks! Thanks fer lookin'!

The term "generic"

So on my last post, Trevor left a comment asking:

"What qualifies those girls in "Altruists" as 'super generic'?"

I planned on making a just a quick explanation as an extra on some bigger post with more drawings, but totally got caught up with the question and came up with a lot of ideas about "generic" drawings (specifically of girls). Here are the drawings he was asking about:


And here are some designs I did that I am much less embarrassed to show:


Also, I tried to explain more on my outlook of the word "generic" in some little drawings, which I'll post below (its more fun this way).


Now here is some less fun stuff...more theories on (dun dun DUNNN!!!)...

GENERIC!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: these are rambling thoughts written quite late at night.

1. What makes a drawing "generic"? There are two different ways to look at the word generic but I'll talk about that later. When cartoonists talk about a generic girl design, I believe it usually refers to the "cute" equation. A generic girl design generally has a big cranium, large eyes, a small upturned nose, and youthful feminine lips. Her face is rounded and nothing is too prominent. Disney princesses are pretty generic (don't get mad at me yet, I am a HUGE fan of Disney movies and can watch 'Sleeping Beauty' 6 times in a row). Snow White may have short hair and a rounder face than Cinderella, but logically you must admit that they are similar, and they seem to set the standard for "cartoon girl beauty." (On another note, Japan has it's own standard for cartoon girl beauty as anyone can see)

2. Where did this come from? My impression is that there are many advantages to using a generic girl design in cartoons. First of all, girl characters are often props rather than REAL characters. Someone for the dashing hero to rescue, someone to sing some cute songs, or the lovely prize who is being fought over by suitors. I personally don't have a problem with this, although I'd like to see more of a variety of girl designs just to spice it up. And I don't mean taking the generic girl design and making her nose slightly less upturned and tiny, or making her chin slightly longer, or giving her a "weird" hairdo.

3. Another reason that generic girls are common- they are pretty and appealing, and everyone likes that. One glance at the cherubic faces of Snow White or Cinderella or Ariel and you know that they are good and sweet. You instantly root for them. Boys AND girls like pretty girls, and the generic cartoon standard is based on what most people find pretty in real life (at least thats how it seems to me). By making girl characters less generic you may risk having to work harder to make the character likable (don't get me started on the now generic "cartoon girl personalities" that can be found everywhere). ANOTHER DISCLAIMER. I know someone is gonna misread this and think that I am against "pretty" or some silly thing. I'm certainly not, I wanted to be Briar Rose as a kid and still do. But I also think there is a place in cartoons for girls who's designs are more specific, just like the real girls in our lives that we know and love.

4. Another reason that generic girl designs are common- Animating is hard. Animating girls is really hard...and trying to animate a girl with specific features must be really REALLY hard.

5. One more idea...the word "generic" can be looked at the way I've described above, but some artists can be unique and "generic" at the same time. You could argue that Kiraz, Sokol, and Frazetta all have a "generic" girl type that they draw quite often....but the drawings are only generic because the artist draws a similar design repeatedly- compare any of their girls to the generic girl I have been talking about and there is nothing boring about them. Check out their gorgeous girls (I die happily inside when I look at these):

Kiraz

Sokol

Frazetta (his paintings break my heart...but in a good way)

I may sound like I have been trash talking anything generic, but in this case it's very different. Frazetta, Kiraz, and Sokol may have a preference for how they draw their girls, but they are each so monumentally amazing at drawing that it doesn't matter. The drawings are beautiful in so many ways that the design of the girl is practically inconsequential. It's drawings like these that make me realize that I DEPEND on trying to draw different kind of faces and bodies all the time...It's almost as though I haven't earned the right to even consider settling and having a basic girl design that I can fall back on. I hope someday I can have an ounce of the uniqueness and skill these artists have. Does any of this make sense??

Wow, if you got through all that, then you must be a true pal 'o mine. Thanks for sitting through "Uncle Katie's Theory Corner." I hope lots of people have their own ideas, and that no one thinks I'm being insulting or presumptuous.

AND DON'T FORGET!!!!
Find out what happens to Skadi and the hapless maiden on Dumm Comics!

Goodnight!

Vacation time for me

Well, I'm leaving for a while! I want to start up all my old abandoned projects, as well as learn some new crap, like animating and stuff. I'll be back on here eventually I think, after I've learned some new things. I'll probably turn off the comments after a couple days, but I'll leave everything up. If I actually succeed in one of my new endeavors, I'll come back and post an update. Here are some random and unrelated last few drawings:

Ok, now I'll answer some questions you guys asked me in my last post.


Ryan G
"Katie, do you feel that you have to clean up your art for it to be commercially viable. Is it like screw it, ill do it like they want me to do it just so itll be seen by a wider audience? Great stuff by the way.."

I guess I feel like more people would respond to a cleaner drawing than a messy one, but that's not the only reason I want to work on cleanup...once you get good at it, it's really useful. I'd like to be able to paint and stuff. t's so hard to not lose elements of the original drawing, though.

Trophiogrande
"Who are some of your favorite illustrators?"

I have a lot of them! There are a lot of modern illustrators I like, but right now no names are coming up...I like a lot of Japanese illustrators whose names I don't know anyway. Oh! I like Kirsten Ulve...she's really cool. I love most the illustrators that Shane Glines has on his site, Cartoonretro.com.

Clinton
"How did you render this?"

With markers, and one of those gold pens. Same as usual! :)

Anonymous
"Dont you draw anything else besides girls? It's getting old"

Well, it's not getting old to me...in fact, it's really fun. If it's old for you, then there are plenty of other artist's sites to check out. I get this comment quite often, and I don't think it's very fair to demand what another person should and shouldn't post on their own art blog. I've already said that I know I need to practice drawing other subjects more, but it's my own choice to post or not post them here, because drawing girls is my primary interest. Another thing, I don't think the subject matter is so important so long as the drawings don't get too stale. Lots of people draw the same girl over and over and make tons of money, but I do my best to try and have a wide variety.

Jason White
"amazing stuff! it would be cool if you also did some purely non-conventional paintings at the same time. i would love to see you do some more punk girls, maybe some goth girls and possibly some rave girls."

Thanks! It's funny though...I never think that the girls I draw are conventional! I guess I try and stay away from drawing "classifictions" of people...like, "this girl is droopy and moody, I'll make her goth" or "this girl is peppy and annoying, I'll make her a cheerleader." I'd like to get good enough one day that I can capture the essence of someone's personality without giving clues. I guess I don't really like the idea of girls who classify themselves, anyhow...for now I am mostly drawing what I wish real people were- happy and random and living in a world where it's ok to wear a one-piece sweater with one sock outside. I would like to be like that!

Rebecca
"Have you ever thought about doing comics?"

Yes! I'm gonna go do some right now! Or...maybe tomorrow...

Jesse
"How does it feel to work at SPUMCO?"

I'm not there now, but it was fun when there were projects to work on! It's a lot of hard work though!


Well, that's all for now! Feel free to email me and crap!

MAN

Here it is, the second ever man drawing on my blog. Everyone is drawing Uncle Eddie, so I wanted in too! Eddie is one of my favorite mans.
Sorry they aren't really finished!
Here are some post-its from this morning's bored doodling session:
I guess I'm all theroried-out from the last post...but I started drawing again a couple days ago, and now I have a whole pile of pictures to post later on. I have some new projects I'm starting, too. More on that later!


***Sorry, I forgot to add these answers to the questions people asked! Here they are:

Acetate:
"By the way...are you going down to Comic-Con?"
" How'd the big show go?"
"What exactly is this "lip bulb" thing?"

I will probably be at the con this year...I think they're going to have a thing for the new Ren and Stimpy DVD, so I will probably be there for that, and wandering around for a day or two.
The show was great, thanks for asking! It was great getting to meet some of the nice folks who read my blog.
The "lip bulb" is that middle part on a top lip...like the little pointed part. Urrgh, it's hard to explain, ha! Some people have it, but other's don't. It's not the philtrum...here's a "diagram."


Clinton:
"Katie, how do you scan your drawings in without getting those evil grey borders invading your drawings? My latest scans are full of them. How do you photoshop them out?"

Most of the time I don't draw in a sketchbook, so I don't have to worry about grey borders! But I'm pretty sure you can use the "brightness and contrast" or the "levels" in photoshop to get rid of them.

R:
" Hey, K! Do you do commissions? And how much would one set me back if ya do?"

Right now I'm supposed to be doing a few commissions for friends of mine, but I'm not doing a very good job of finishing them right now. So I probably won't be picking up any more until I'm better about procrastinating. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to handle doing commissions better!

Shawn:
"Hey, Katie! Where do you find light flesh colored markers and those pale yellow ones you use? I have so many marker colors, but I have no tasteful way to color flesh."

Ugh, flesh colored markers never ever look like flesh, it's so true! Most the time I layer weird colors together, or use colors that aren't real fleshtones at all...like orange or grey. But otherwise I use the lightest markers they sell, and then use the darker markers to add to it. Most brands have a few super light colors...you can't tell by the way the marker looks on the outside though, so just test them all until you find the right ones. :)

Kali Fontecchio:
"lips are always fun to draw. And to see if you're as weird as me, when drawing yourself, do you amp your lips up waaay more than they really are? I know I do! Just curious :)"

I think I amp up all my features! I'm one of those weird people that has big everything- big eyes, big nose, big mouth, big teeth...sometimes I wonder how my face fits on my head. Does that sound weird? Urrgh, sorry, ha! I'd like to see one of your self portraits, though! :)

Anonymous:
"P.S. What is your all time favorite Ren & Stimpy cartoon?"

I have too many favorites!! "Space Madness", "Stimpy's Invention"...I really love all of them. I guess "Big House Blues" might be my favorite though, just cause it's so cool looking.

Lacie:
"Did you just randomly draw these girls or look at pictures?"

Most of the girls from my mouth post were drawn from magazines, although a couple were made up. Maybe I should do a post sometime comparing referenced drawings with non-reference drawings...what do you think?

Alex:
" Are their any tutorials on drawing assholes so I can put Cory's theories into practice?"

I will Ask Cory to do one, and if he refuses to give out the address of his blog, I'll just post it on mine!


Thanks everyone for contributing mouth theories! Those comments were fun to read...

GIANT MOUTH...post

My two favorite things to draw are mouths and legs, but for some reason I feel a little funny talking about them here! I can't tell if I'm giving away "secrets," or just stating the obvious! Anyhow, since people have asked for it and I'm always obsessing over them, here is the mouth post!

There are a few things I always look at first when drawing someone's mouth...does she have that little "lip bulb" on the top lip (I can't remember who coined that phrase, but it's a good one!), or is there just a little hole? Does the mouth point down or up when making a nuetral expression? Is the top lip bigger, or the bottom one?
(Also, I REALLY like overbites and underbites, and I'm not going to even get started on teeth here...)

All those things change how a person makes expressions, too. I've really been wanting to do some photo experiments- I want to take pictures of all my girlfriends making the same mouths shapes, and compare them all to one another. This would be great for animating lip synch, and just comparing the vastness of human shapes in general. Maybe I'll do a post about that later, and people can help me out with supplying pictures!

Here's a funny observation about mouth construction- you know when you're constructing a drawing, and you draw the center line, and you draw the eyes and nose and chin and whatever all lining up accordingly? The mouth doesn't fit on that line! It actually sticks out, like a weird human muzzle. I tried to draw it here, in sort of an exaggerated way:
My friend Robert Cory pointed this out to me a long time ago, but he used a much more vulgar way of describing this phenomenon. Maybe sometime he'll get a blog and describe it in his own terms for you!

Here's another one: in a three quarter view of a mouth, the part of the lips that are farther away from you are thicker. This is kind of hard to draw without making the face look like there are nasty worms on it. John K. is really good at it though. His bad catholic school girl drawings influenced me a whole lot. I tried to draw some here:
Well, I can't really think of much else to say! It's one thing to make observations and attempt to put it on paper, but then trying to describe it in words is even harder! So...here are some faces that I drew tonight while becoming completely fixated on drawing weird human orifices!
I know someone's going to call me "weird" for this!