Cartooning - Drawing the Crowds

Intro

A couple of years ago I blogged about drawing a crowd of santas at a party. I'd included a link to Tom Richmond's article about drawing a crowd scene, but the two scenes weren't very alike.

Latest Funstreak showing crowd in the background

My latest Funstreak cartoon uses many of the techniques discussed in Tom's tutorial, but in a simplified way. This doesn't mean you don't need to put much thought into it. It's well worth considering the dynamics of a crowd as you draw.

Stepping Through the Process

A crowd of people might just be a bunch of ovals to represent faces, but there's a number of things to do in order to make it look convincing:-

1. First we need to consider the density within the packing. People stand shoulder to shoulder, or with slight overlap, which leaves some gap between their heads.

Spacing Between Heads

2. The people behind will position themselves between the heads of those in front to get the best view. This gives a loose hexagonal packing pattern when viewed from above, or if the crowd is on a banked surface.

Loose Hexagonal Packing

3. People are also different heights and sizes, and tend to bunch in an irregular way, so we need to randomise the pattern a little. (I've also reduced the overlap heights.)

Randomising Positions

4. Faces at the top of the crowd block will appear smaller than those at the bottom. This establishes distance. Try to keep the size change a linear progression, so work on no more than two rows at a time to help keep consistency.

Using Reduction - Each Row Back is 90% Size

4. The usual distance effects will apply, so details will diminish and colours may darken or desaturate. In my example I didn't add any details because they're too far away, but I did add a little cell shading.

The Example From My Cartoon

 You can also see that I packed the crowd much tighter than in my previous examples. I really wanted a sea-of-faces with bodies only really visible on the front few rows.

Cartooning - Rule of Threes Revisited

Intro

I've just realised that the latest FunStreak cartoon (http://funstreak.webcomic.ws/comics/23) follows the Rule of Threes pattern. The first two boxes set the scene and perform the misdirection, and the last one delivers the punchline.

This one came from a conversation I was having on Saturday morning with my 'significant other'. We were reminiscing about the past, how cute our kids used to be, and talking about how prudity replaces the carefree attitude that children have when they're little. Sometimes the truth slips out in a joke; the grass really was long, and my son help out?.. well let's just leave it there!

The Cartoon

I started off drawing the final frame, adding temporary lines to a vanishing point around the middle of the page. It was important that the final reveal should show the long grass, so it made sense to have the couple actually in a garden. Sunloungers were the simplest thing to draw, I drew one and then mirrored it over to give me the second. The grass was added in layers, a little bit like waves on the sea.

A simple garden scene

Finally a couple of figures and a table were added to complete the scene.

The completed scene

Frames one and two are based on zoomed in copies of this image. It's a great way of re-using the artwork, but ensure you alter the figures to provide a bit of variation.

Zoomed in Images for Frames 1 and 2

Simple Really.

A Page on a Page

Introduction

My latest Area 5.1 comic, (A Tall Tale) is based around a real-world scam email that Shiela received the other week. The premise here is why would anyone respond to being called an idiot? But "dummy's guides" have been around for a long time now covering all sorts of topics, so perhaps we have become desensitised to this sort of insult. Or maybe the meaning has altered so most figure dummy just means noob. But it still feels like a bold sell!

I decided to take it in a slightly different direction and speculate about what is it that you'll be buying. I wanted to include the email, portrayed as a more traditional junk-mail letter, so it needed to look like a real piece of paper. Here's my starting image taken from the original screen grab.

The starting image

This blog takes you through the image processing required to create a 3D version of this page.

The Transformation Process

I used the open source GIMP software, but I'm pretty sure the tools I used are available in other graphics software (Pixelmator, Photoshop, Paint.net or Pixl Editor on the web). It was a relatively simple process using a few simple transformations.

(nb. Before you start, increase the width of the canvas otherwise you'll lose the sides of the text when you stretch the page.)

•  Rotate the image by 90 degrees and then use the Curve Bend tool to curl the edges.

(In GIMP you can find this in the menu: Filters > Distorts > Curve Bend)

Adding a curve to the edges

• Do upper and lower borders, then when happy with the results, click OK and then rotate it back through 90 degrees.

• Finally use the Perspective Tool, dragging in and down the top corners to make the page appear to tilt away from you, then press enter.

(In GIMP you can find this in the menu: Tools > Transform Tools > Perspective)

Applying Perspective

I then imported the image into Sketchbook, rotated it a little and then drew the page turn-up on the bottom right corner. I later added the background graduation so that the page edge didnt get confused with the frame edge.

The final result of the transformations

It didn't take very long to do and the results are quite effective. I hope somebody found this useful.

My Perspective on Vanishing Points

Adding Some Perspective

Following on from my last post about scene types, today's is all about drawing in perspective using vanishing points. My last comic showed a factory scene in one of the frames which I used perspective to show depth and give an idea of space.

A vanishing point is a point in the image where a set of parallel lines intersect in the distance. Think about railway lines converging at the horizon and you'd have a single vanishing point perspective.

Single Point Perspective.
(from Wikipedia)

It's quite easy to see that the vanishing point here is right in the middle just below the trees.

Using Double Point Perspective

My cartoon was set in a factory and centred around the idea of a robot taking revenge for what was being said by a TV anchorman. I'm going to use two point perspective to enable me to draw a machine that fits in with what I'd already drawn for the background. The idea is that the machine is going to be making these bins and the robot will be stacking them up.

Starting Point - X marks the spot.

I'd already made a stack of bin or garbage cans in the picture, and these had been overlapped and reduced in size so that they give the impression of perspective. The box with the X is where I want to draw the machine.

The shape of the bins follows two sets of vanishing points

I'm showing the lines that run off to the two vanishing points on this diagram. Both points should be on the horizon line which I've chosen as roughly mid point. And the blue point is well over to the right, off the page.

Add vanishing point lines for the machine

Now I've added vanishing points for the machine (making sure they are on the same horizon line). My tip would be to not add too many at this point or it'll get confusing, but try and mark out lines to help build the basic shape. These guide lines will form the basic of all horizontal lines in the box I'm about to draw.

The completed machine with shading

Add additional guide lines as you go where you need to add details. You'll find the angles often look a little odd, but stick with it, it'll look fine once it's done. My machine here is simple box with a conveyor spur, a control box and a fan unit. The writing on the sign is done in a similar way, add red guide lines and then scale the individual letters to fit.

Finally, I filled with colour shades of grey , then added a few extra details like switches and hatches. The additional of a bin on the conveyor ties it all together.

The completed frame ready for dialogue

Once the backdrop has been completed you can add your cartoon characters, and here I've used the white outline trick to give them a bit of separation. I've also kept the background free of colour to stop it from grabbing too much attention.

I have also added a little bit of detail that can't been seen on the published cartoon, but if you look at the completed frame you might find my slight obsession drawn within.

Strictly speaking I should have used the same trick when drawing the robot, it's close, but as long as the vanishing points converge on the same horizon line it should look OK.

See original cartoon here -- http://area5-1.webcomic.ws/comics/62/