Cartooning and Markers with Will Terrell – Lesson 1 – Keeping a Sketchbook

Will Terrell is a Professional Character and Prop Designer for Warner Bros. Animation. Follow along with Will in his 4 part series as he shows you cartooning and using markers.

The most important thing he will be demonstrating throughout this workshop is trying to have fun while keeping a sketchbook, because that’s the idea!

LESSON 1 of 4: KEEPING A SKETCHBOOK

Starting with Rough Sketches

REFERENCES
Will prefers sketching from life in public because it forces you to have a critical eye and capture the main aspects of a subject since usually they keep moving.

If you’d rather not sketch in public the website http://iamchicago.net/ has a collection of photos of characters and people who live in Chicago. There are many unique and interesting people on the site that are great to use as references.

SKETCHING PEOPLE
• Focus on observation
• Look at who you’re drawing more than you look at the paper
• Sketch the big shapes first, then break it down smaller shapes
• Keep it light – especially when using colored pencils as it’s more difficult to erase lines than when using graphite
• Many people struggle with drawing because they are focusing on what they think they see versus what they’re actually seeing. The brain tells you something should look a certain way, but truly observing and drawing real life versus imagined images will help.
• The best way to overcome this obstacle is just to draw A LOT – challenge yourself to fill up a sketchbook every single month
• The best way to get better at drawing from real life is to draw fast
• Keep your pencil moving and don’t get caught up on drawing details
• You’re not just training your hands to draw, you’re also training your eyes to see
• Draw through objects – for example – in the image below I am drawing the brim of the hat all the way around the head so the shape comes out right.
• Make a goal to sketch every day and do 10-20 very loose sketches at a time. Don’t get caught up in details and keep it loose. You’ll learn so much from that and remember HAVE FUN WITH IT!

See lessons 2, 3 and 4 from Will here:

LESSON 2: PEOPLE SKETCHING: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEQqAWoTi9E&t=13s

LESSON 3: COLORING WITH MARKERS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMO5N8cy_Jk&t=12s

LESSON 4: MARKER PAPER ILLUSTRATION: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUMZSYa1NWY

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