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LilithiumStamps β Cartoonists and anatomy
Published: 2011-02-28 21:38:38 +0000 UTC; Views: 13872; Favourites: 967; Downloads: 54
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Description
I was thinking about making a stamp like this awhile ago, but I kept forgetting about it.Anyway, this was inspired by someone on dA who claimed that cartoonists don't need to learn realistic anatomy and all of that.
Bull-fucking-shit.
Cartoonists are ARTISTS. They need to learn everything else any other artist does. Not just anatomy. That's how their characters look balanced. No, a lot of cartoon characters do not have realistic proportions, but cartoonists know how to bend, exaggerate and play with proportions to make their characters unique in their own style so that it works for that character's universe. It works for them, because they know how to draw realistically and know their proportions and such.
Learn the rules before you break them~
I've made this mistake. I used to believe that I didn't need to learn real anatomy for humans or animals or anything. But then I fucking grew up and realised how wrong I was. And I started practising. My anatomy is not perfect, but it's much better than what it was and I can draw a decent looking human.
And because of that, I can play with things a little more to make a separate, more exaggerated cartoony style as opposed to my normal, more realistically proportioned style (Still working on that cartoony style, I need to make it look more balanced).
Sorry if none of this makes sense, I don't seem to be good at the ranting or something? I don't know.
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Comments: 222
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As an aspiring cartoonist myself, I can say that this is quite true. Like you, yourself said in the description; Ya need 'ta know the rules before you can break 'em!! In fact, I had to backtrack and work on anatomy myself when I decided I was going to work towards making not just a hobby, but a career out of 2D animation and cartoons. Without that foundation, you may not have the tools to give your work the weight, polish, and believability it needs to be at it's absolute best!!
Now, goin' a bit more in-depth, here with my statement about foundation... [admittedly, I'm more of an animator than an artist, so there will be some talk of the benefits of learning this kinda stuff in making cartoons.]
Let's take the artstyle commonly seen in 1920s to early 1930s cartoons, for example. While it definitely is a thousand times more simplified, exaggerated, and quite literally, more flexible than more realistic interpretations of anatomy, if you don't have the knowledge of anatomy-related things like where knees bend or how a hand is constructed, how in the heck are you supposed to branch off of it and make your illusion of movement look convincing if you don't even know how the darn thing works or moves initially?
However, this is simply my two cents on the whole matter. I'm excited to hear other people's thoughts on this topic and have a good ol' talk about it!!~
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"iT'S JuSt mY sTyLE !!!!!!111!!1!"
yes it is.
but you should still have a basic understanding of anatomy.
okay ?
okay.
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Tell that to: Matt Groening, Mike Judge and Scott Adams. None of them learned anatomy nor had art related jobs before they had success in animation/cartooning.
None of them even went to art school to study such things also, art is subjective, not objective so who cares if the anatomy of a cartoon character is unrealistic? I don't see Mickey Mouse with realistic human anatomy?
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So true. I'm in animation class and so many of them are like, "hurr durr we don't need to draw realisitically."Β
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It's true, since I started studying canine anatomy more, my characters look better and feel more real, while still maintaining a style.
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Using here : digitartworkgroup.deviantart.cβ¦
I'm using it for a new group I created to encourage young artists - as myself - to improve their knowledge in basics. And anatomy is the FIRST ONE! 
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As a surreal cartoonist I agree 100%.
I do draw really warped and strange characters and art but I'm still trying to learn proper anatomy when my art calls for it.
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you're right in some cases, but at the same time, Its a cartoon at the end of the day. Its pretty silly to worry about anatomy over that.
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Not really they actually have better accuracy of human anatomy hence why they can exaggerate it but you'll just disagree as usual
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Please tell me how drawing almost every character like an anorexic bone jangles with hair that would make cutlery safer to use, heavily implied racial bias characteristics or...not even well at all is "accuracy"?
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Did I say anything about race , your trying to change the subject here and if you payed attention instead of letting your hate speak for you I said since most manga as learned the basics of anatomy hence accuracy they can exaggerate it too almost any degree
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No you didn't. Because you're ignoring the fact that Japan is Xenophobic as fuck with a capital FUCK!
That shit does get reflected in their work regardless of what you deny.
And again...no. They don't know most basics. Even Myazaki has admitted the industry suffers greatly from artist who lack life experience in order to draw stylistically. They can copy, no doubt but if you asked one of them to draw something natural, they would probably fuck it up.
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Then I bet you think comic artist are the same right
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Of course not, pinning every other comic artist like Japanese anime is silly.
They actually work on their craft, not trying to copy each other comic unlike anime manga where the only difference is in name only.
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Yeah, just give up.
I'm not the one dragging this out.
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Tell it to my wall, bitch.
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...thanks for adding nothing to that... 2 years after the fact...
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There were other ways of approaching nicely, instead you just chose to be a dick.
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Well you choose to waste my time, so it was warranted.
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heh, JJBA has good anatomy (it's anime)
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I've been told that if you want to be a cartoonist (and a good one at that) you should at least know the basics in anatomy.
If not, a cartoonist's drawings can look really awkward and squiggly.
Heck, even the most well-known cartoonists today study anatomy.
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I draw in a cartoon style and I ALWAYS use anatomy to draw my characters ever since I learn how to use it.
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I've been practicing with my more human characters.
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I practice on anatomy with my character Zac.
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You propably saw me saying that XD and for ME it is still true. You need no Anatomy to be good at Cartoon Art. But sure, who ever WANTS to learn it perfectly, should do it.
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You may not need anatomy for deviantart or fun...
But in a professional career, you do.
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Well... if you check out like.. every anime and cartoon you will find out, that you donΒ΄t actually need it. And I am not talking about High Quality Stuff like The Lion King. They certainly know what Anatomy is. But random Shit you see on TV has nothing to do with REAL Anatomy.
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Everything is based on anatomy. You can only learn to exaggerate from understanding basic anatomy in the first place.
Otherwise you'd be describing abstraction...
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Based on anatomy is still not real anatomy.
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I can see i'm just replying to a brick wall.
I'll just leave you to your ignorance.
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And this bitch has me on ignored. Well at least they listened.
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You might not know what ignorance is xD Β There is a difference in being ignorance and having a different point of view.
You donΒ΄t NEED anatomy to be a great and professional artist. You even said it yourself in your comment over there about animes. Those people work professional. And US cartoonists twist limbs of their characters as well.. not to mention the sizes of heads, hands and other parts who suddenly change or are simply too big for REAL anatomy.
You should watch some frames closer and think about their characterΒ΄s design before starting a stupid argument like this. But it is useless to talk to someone who actually seems to be ignorant and thinks to have more Knowledge and Skills about Art then I have so..
I know I am right.
And what you say might be your opinion and others should share it if they want.Β
If someone WANTSΒ to draw with perfect anatomy, fine. I support that. Learn as much as possible. But you donΒ΄t fucking NEED it to be great at Art. Β .. lol or how you said "professional".
And since it useless to talk to someone who has not much experience with drawing in this genre, IΒ΄ll just head out and say:
Have a good Day
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Holy crap.
This stamp.
I thank you so much for this stamp.
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My anatomy sucks, but I agree to some extent. But there are some cartoons out there that are just not anatomically correct.
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I can definitely agree with that. I'm still learning anatomy, and sometimes I get really nervous drawing my female cartoonsΒ Β Β really makes me shy! But the one thing I can't "get down" is the scenery.
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I love human anatomy and I want to draw an realistic anime approach to my art style for my series I'm currently working on. To me, I NEED to learn anatomy or people will think my art style is crappy.
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I used to suck at proper anatomy. I took this art class on anatomy and I learned how to draw human proportions. Now when I try to draw cartoony, it just bothers me.Β
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