Drawing Cartoon Eyes

I came across this film still from Disney's The Princess and the Frog by way of John Kricfalusi's blog. John has been pointing out (quite correctly in my opinion) how badly designed and drawn the TV shows from the 80's were. Furthermore, he contends that those bland and soulless 80's character designs live on to this day, not only on TV but also in feature film animation. Though I might be rather more charitable towards Disney's features of the last 20 years, I can't say that John is off target in this criticism either, especially when I see an example like the following that he includes:


John's correct in his assertion that some of Disney's male and female leads are bland and generic in design. I too feel like Prince Naveen in The Princess and the Frog is highly derivative of Prince Eric and Aladdin who came before him. Ideally, I'd like to have seen Naveen designed more ethnically exotic in his actual features, rather than just his flesh colour, perhaps more like the young Omar Sharif, for example. However, despite this criticism, I will defend the actual drawing and animation of Naveen as being highly competent. He is solidly drawn, if uninspired in design.

I'm afraid, however, that I cannot say the same for the three young ladies looking so adoringly at Naveen in this particular scene (undoubtedly drawn by a different animator than the one handling Naveen). I'm sorry to say that I find the drawing of these three very amateurish - more the kind of drawing I'd equate with the aforementioned 80's TV animation. I recall thinking the same thing when I saw the village sequence that opened Beauty and the Beast. There were a lot of village folk very poorly drawn and animated in that film, though all of the principal characters were handled so well. I think things got better in subsequent films, however, and I was glad to see it. But, by virtue of The Princess and the Frog being Disney's first traditionally animated feature in six years, it looks like they're saddled with some newbie animators, likely by way of TV animation, who just aren't up to speed yet with their drawing.



As it happens, I've just lectured about the design and function in drawing eyes as part of my Character Design class at Sheridan this past week, so I'd like to offer my thoughts on that subject in regard to this particular still from the Disney film, as well as this suggested revision in some of the drawing. First of all, I find the construction lacking in the drawings of these three girls, especially when compared to the better drawn Naveen. I think the head construction on all three could be tightened up a bit, and the 2nd girl could do with a more substantial nose structure too. Mostly, though, it's the construction and direction of the eyes on all three that bothers me the most. Girl #1 has eyes that are spreading out too large and show no feeling of being spherical eyeballs behind the surrounding flesh, due to the pupils being drawn without regard to the rounded surface they exist on. Girl #2 at least has elliptical pupils, suggesting a turning of form, yet they are not even close to being directed towards Naveen's eyes in order to meet his gaze. I haven't drawn Girl #3, but her pupils, drawn as perfect circles, also show no indication of turning on a rounded surface and she appears to be looking at something offscreen beyond Naveen's left ear.

I must admit, poorly drawn and unfocused eyes are a big pet peeve of mine, as it it takes so little extra effort to draw them well. Here are a couple of notes from the lecture I give on cartoon eyes:

Happy Birthday, Tommy Smothers!

I've always been a big fan of Tom and Dick, the Smothers Brothers. Despite being only about 8 years old at the time, I still vaguely remember watching their original The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS, and I also recall they had a short lived variety show in the 70s, when I was in high school. But it was their revived series in the late 80s that I remember best and that brought them back to wide acclaim, with fans also turning out in droves to see them again on the concert circuit. Incidentally, that was the series that also introduced us to Tommy as "The Yo-Yo Man". I was lucky enough to see them in concert twice in the late 80s and more recently around 2000.

Interestingly, like other comedy teams before them such as Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, and Martin and Lewis, it was the funny member of each team that was actually the guiding force behind their respective acts. Tommy Smothers, though he played his onstage persona as a childlike, stammering dimwit, was very much in control of the act. Fortunately, younger brother Dick seemed quite content to allow Tommy to direct the course, as Dick was more at ease with his varied offstage hobbies like auto racing and tending his vineyard. But Tommy was the more intense political animal, always doing battle with the establishment, including his sly humourous jibes at both the Johnson and the Nixon administrations in their original TV variety series.

I must admit, my enjoyment of the Smothers Brothers had less to do with their political jests and more to do with their actual song routines, in which a folk song would be started seriously but at some point would be humourously sabotaged by the mischievous Tommy. Here is a YouTube clip of one of their best routines, in a concert with The Boston Pops dating back to probably around 1990. So, here's a toast to Tommy Smothers on his birthday! (Even if Mom always liked his brother Dick best)

Costumed Model Sketches

As I mentioned a couple posts ago, most Tuesday evenings I can be found at Visual arts Brampton for the open workshop life drawing sessions. One of our regular models, Heather, has been posing for us both this week and last. Just for a change from the usual life drawing, Heather had brought some costumes that she put on for the longer studies. As Heather has a background in dance, last week she brought along her ballet wear to do her final poses in. Lovely Heather looked like she'd stepped right out of a Degas painting, and I thought I'd post a couple of my sketches here. As I often do, in the second sketch I reverted back to my caricatured style, as I really enjoy capturing the cuteness of our regular models. I've probably made Heather look about 16 here, but I like the more cartooned proportions.




For tonight's session, Heather had brought along a sari to wear for her last couple of poses. Taking a cue from her rather majestic standing pose with the staff, I envisioned her as an exotic high priestess, complete with a serpent head sceptre. (And yes, in both poses I took certain other liberties...) I also took a reference photo with Heather's permission, so that I could later compare the drawing and the pic taken from the same vantage point. In hindsight, I can now see how I've made her head a bit bigger relative to her body, as is my tendency to do, although admittedly not intentionally in this case. I think it's my background as a cartoonist that leads to this slight proportion discrepancy, but I honestly can't see it at the time. Funny thing is, on those occasions when I have drawn the head/body ratio more accurately, it always looks odd to me! Ah well...





Again, just a reminder that the life drawing sessions are every Tuesday evening at Visual Arts Brampton, from 7:00 to 9:30. It's just $10 per session and there's no obligation to sign up for anything - it's just an open workshop without instruction. Please check the VAB website for more information. I hope to see some of my local readers there sometime!

Amir Avni

This morning's Globe and Mail held a pleasant surprise for me in the form of this feature article in the Life section on one of my former Sheridan Animation students, Amir Avni. Amir is currently in his 4th and final year at Sheridan - I had him in my 2nd Year Character Design class two years ago and he was always keen to improve his ability. Best of all, Amir LOVES CARTOONS! :)


In the Globe article, Amir tells of his early correspondence as a fan with his cartooning hero, John Kricfalusi, of Ren and Stimpy fame. I certainly can appreciate what John's letters of encouragement and drawing tips meant to young Amir, as I'd had a similar correspondence with my hero, caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, back when I was in my teens and early twenties. It's really wonderful when a renowned artist takes the time and effort to write back to an aspiring artist, especially when it includes some practical information on how to progress. Much kudos to John K for his generosity of spirit in encouraging Amir some years ago. And I continue to be amazed at just how much John puts into his own blog, John K. Stuff, in his goal of passing along good practical knowledge on solid cartooning skills, which sadly seem to be becoming a dying art in both animation and print.

How To Draw Cartoons!

Well, only touching briefly on the subject, to be honest.

I've been associated with Visual Arts Brampton for about 7 years or more now, and I can most often be found there on Tuesday evenings for the open workshops in life drawing. Visual Arts Brampton, or VAB for short, is located on the east side of Hurontario immediately north of Steeles in Brampton Ontario, just a short drive away from where I live in adjacent Mississauga. Keith Moreau runs this art studio that offers art lessons and open drawing sessions to the general public, and I'd like to encourage those in the Brampton area to come out and join us for some life sketching on Tuesday evenings, 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm. It's only $10 per session with no obligation to sign up for anything - just drop by when you're of a mind to. I've posted some of my more caricatured approaches to life drawing previously, which may be found here. I think I may soon be posting more samples, as I've got a ton of them stockpiled. Also, here are a couple of caricatures pictured below I drew of aspiring young artists who have joined us in past sessions.




Something else Keith and I have been starting to venture into is doing some test runs at cartooning tips on video. To be honest, they're pretty rough attempts so far, as nothing has been scripted at all and I have a tendency to ramble a bit in my somewhat awkward stammering way of speaking! But we're just trying out things in the hopes of developing it more down the road. Anyway, here is our first attempt at something pretty much on the fly that Keith's son Nick has videotaped and uploaded to YouTube for now. Funnily enough, although I'm quite comfortable standing up in front of a classroom full of students at Sheridan College, I'm pretty damn self-conscious in front of a rolling camera! No Oscars for acting in my future, I'm afraid...

Happy Birthday, Nicolas Cage!

Okay, so technically Nic Cage's birthday was yesterday on Jan. 7th. However, it just so happens that today is Elvis Presley's birthday, and I suspect that Nic would appreciate that I'm running his caricature on the anniversary of the birth of his idol!

I wouldn't say I'm a big fan of Nic Cage, but I do find him an interesting actor and have enjoyed some of his more quirky efforts including one of his first films, 1983's Valley Girl, which was sort of an updated Romeo and Juliet tale involving a rich California valley girl and a punk rocker. And who can forget Cage as the white trash serial con in the Coen Brothers' Raising Arizona! (I suspect that TV's My Name is Earl owes a lot of its success to that great little film).

But let's leave off here with a clip that celebrates both Nicolas Cage and his idol, Elvis Presley, in this memorable scene from 1992's Honeymoon in Vegas!

Go See "The Princess And The Frog"!

The above illustration adorns this year's Christmas card from my friend, Disney animator, Nik Ranieri. Nik was the principal animator on the pictured character, Charlotte, the delightful status-seeker and childhood friend of Tiana, the heroine in Disney's new animated feature, The Princess and the Frog. I got a big kick out of Nik's illustration on his card - I can almost hear Charlotte singing Eartha Kitt's big song hit, Santa Baby, as she goes over her long list of Christmas gift requirements!

I have seen The Princess and the Frog and, though it may be a flawed film in some ways, I want to state for the record that I enjoyed the film very much. My criticisms are mostly in line with Mike Barrier's insightful and fairminded review, although I do disagree on a couple of points. I also have some minor quibbles about the visual aesthetic, but that's a very personal view. However, because of the fact that this is Disney's long-awaited return (after 6 years) to the art form it is best known for, and allowing for the fact that they have prudently opted to play it safe in order to test the waters before venturing into riskier territory, I am willing to cut them a lot of slack on this film. Though not perfect, the film still serves up a lot of solid entertainment with fun characters, fully expressive animation, and a winning music score. (Actually, on that last point I was leery, not having been an enthusiast of Randy Newman's music in general in the past, but the rascal exceeded my expectations on this one.)

However, I would be remiss in not admitting that this film is in trouble. Tragically, The Princess and the Frog is a victim of its having been released at a particularly vulnerable time, up against such worthy competition as Avatar, as well as such unworthy competition as that Chipmunks pic! I find it hard to fathom why kids and their parents would choose that latter film in such huge numbers, but I'll admit I'm very much out of step with today's popular tastes.

Over at The Laughing Place, Rhett Wickham has written a heartfelt plea to encourage moviegoers to go see Disney's revival of traditional animation because, if the box-office numbers aren't there, it's a very real possibility that the studio heads at Disney may conclude that there's no longer the audience for this medium in films. Rhett offers up a good argument as to why you should go see this film soon if you haven't already. I'm personally planning to see it once or twice more before it ends its theatrical run. My hat's off to all of the talented animation staff at Disney Feature Animation. They've been battling against the odds to create an entertaining film, and I think their efforts are worth supporting by casting your vote where it counts: at the box-office of your local theatre. Thanks in advance!

Thanks For Everything, Roy.

I'm so sad to hear that Roy E. Disney passed away earlier today. I wasn't aware that he'd been battling cancer, so it was quite a shock to me. There are a lot of memories that are flooding back from the last 25 years - starting in 1984, when there was that attempted takeover of Disney, which coincidentally reared its ugly head only several months after I'd first started my Disney career in the Canadian office.

I recall that Disney staff far and wide were all pretty nervous of how that would end, but once the attempt was thwarted and the dust had settled, Disney had a new management team in Michael Eisner and Frank Wells, with Roy having been instrumental in negotiating their installation at the helm. Admittedly, I wasn't that thrilled with the direction they soon started taking Disney in, but I was happy that Roy's part in the deal was that he would be the, albeit, figurehead in charge of Disney Feature Animation, as we saw him as the protector of that most important, yet under-appreciated division of the studio. It seemed that, were it not for Roy Disney, Disney Animation might have been dissolved soon after Eisner and Wells took charge. Fortunately, Roy convinced them of how important it was and that eventually led to such films as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, putting Disney once again at the forefront of animated entertainment.

After Frank Wells was tragically killed in a helicopter crash in 1994, Michael Eisner started getting too big for his britches, making a lot of ill conceived decisions that were judged by many to be detrimental to Disney. Eventually Roy became so fed up with it all that he quit the board of directors (or was in danger of being squeezed out ) and started the "Save Disney" campaign to oust the tyrannical Eisner from his position as CEO. His efforts ultimately proved successful, leading to a humiliating revolt against Eisner at the 2004 shareholders' meeting, forcing his hand to leave the Company during the following year before his contract officially was up.

Back around 1981 or 1982, before all that mess with the Disney takeover attempt, I have one very fond, personal memory of Roy that I think says a lot about the man's character. Here in Canada on CBC (our public network) there's a long running current affairs show called The Fifth Estate, similar in format to CBS's 60 Minutes. Back at that time, they did a show where they investigated the mistreatment of animals that was purported to be rife within the TV and movie industry. It ran at least a couple times in repeats, so I remember it well. One of the guys they interviewed on the subject was Marlin Perkins, former host of TV's Wild Kingdom. When confronted with information from people who'd worked with him on some of his nature shows claiming there were contrived setups with animals that put them at risk of injury and death, Perkins denied it all, eventually losing his cool and demanding that they turn off the camera and stop the interview. Perkins came off as a bald-faced liar as a result.

Afterwards, there was a similar confrontational grilling of Roy Disney in what looked like his living room at home. The journalist confronted Roy with the accusation that there had been deaths of animals during the making of some of the True Life Adventures of the 1950s, in which Roy had been in charge of one of the camera units filming animals supposedly going about their business in the wild. I recall the journalist aggressively accusing the filmmakers of stampeding a horde of lemmings over a rocky cliff in White Wilderness. And while lemmings are believed to commit mass suicide in such a fashion, apparently these weren't the right sort of lemmings who are purported to do that! While the self-righteous journalist was accusing him of these misdeeds, Roy just sat there in his armchair very calmly smoking his cigarette before finally being given a chance to respond to the accusations. Instead of denying it all like Marlin Perkins had done, Roy just casually replied (and I paraphrase) "Yeah, that probably was what happened. We wouldn't do that type of thing today, but back then we did what had to be done to get some exciting footage in the wild". No vehement denials - just a somewhat sheepish grin, perhaps denoting some small pangs of latent guilt. Anyway, it took the wind out of the sails of that indignant interviewer and I admired Roy Disney for his refreshing frankness then and ever since, as every time I'd seen him on camera I was struck by how genuine and devoid of Hollywood b.s. this mild-mannered man was.

If you'd like to see Roy at his finest, I'd highly recommend checking out his lengthy interview with Leonard Maltin on the On the Front Lines DVD set, devoted to Disney's wartime cartoons. Roy fondly shares his firsthand memories of visiting his dad's and uncle's studio as a boy during World War II. His incredible knowledge of that period and nostalgic anecdotes are just a joy to watch. You can see just how much Roy loved and respected his uncle Walt's legacy, which explains why he felt so compelled in later life to defend Disney animated filmmaking at all costs. I'll always love ol' Roy for that, and I'll miss the man very much.

Happy Birthday, Frank Sinatra!

Yes, it's that time of the year again, when The Cartoon Cave pays tribute to the greatest of them all, Frank Sinatra. I've written about Frank often on this blog, but he will always be celebrated here, as he typifies the entertainment from that glorious past that I love so much. In honour of his birthday, I sketched a new caricature of him, this time trying something a little different in the rendering technique. Instead of my usual brush and ink with Photoshop colour, I decided to draw him on toned paper with coloured pencils just to see how it would look. It may be a bit overdone in some areas, but I'm relatively happy with the result. I actually got the inspiration from having seen a similar approach by several of my very talented Sheridan animation students while reviewing their sketchbooks this past week.

The reference I used for this one was a scene from Tony Rome, in which Frank played the title character, a rough and tumble private detective operating in modern day Miami, Florida. The film also starred the delectable Jill St. John. Though I unfortunately can't embed the YouTube clip for this one, here is a link to the opening clip of Tony Rome, featuring the title song sung by Frank's little gal, Nancy Sinatra. Enjoy!

Me and Bob!

Yes, I know it's been a long time since my last blog post. I just haven't had much in the way of new stuff to put up lately. However, I did have a rather exciting thing happen last Friday evening that I want to post about at this time. I finally got to meet one of my top favourite TV stars of all time: Bob Newhart! I've written of Bob several times on my blog, including this tribute.

Bob was here in Toronto last Friday appearing at Roy Thomson Hall. I only found out about his scheduled appearance last Monday, so I was fortunate to be able to get good seats on such short notice. I'd actually seen him in concert about 20 years ago, also at Roy Thomson Hall, and I'd been kicking myself ever since for not trying to meet him back then. This time I was determined to do it right. I ended up sending off a quick note to him, care of the venue, including a small image of my caricature of him. Thankfully, the folks at RTH passed it along to him and the result was my name ended up on the list of those who would be granted a backstage visit with him after the show.

It was an admittedly short meet and greet affair, where there were several small groups waiting to say "Hi Bob!", so there wasn't any time to really chat with him. But, still, it was enough for me to just finally get to meet one of my TV heroes in person and present him with a framed print of my caricature. Bob got a big kick out it and was gracious enough to pose for a photo with me and autograph an additional print for my growing collection.

The performance itself was very good, though it seemed a bit short at just over an hour of Bob himself, after a short warmup act by a songstress singing Vegas style standards (I feel bad for not catching her name!). He included one of his famous telephone routines (on a cell phone yet!), the one involving Sir Walter Raleigh reporting back to his superiors in England after being introduced to the concept of smoking cigarettes by the Native Americans. A good review of his show on Friday can be found here. He's really quite amazing and I'm just happy to see this comedy legend still touring and performing having recently hit the age of 80. Here's to you, Bob!