Tuesday, October 21, 2025

Ariel Sketches

I've always loved 2D Disney animation and the cartooning styles of those old masters. So why haven't I studied them more?

I've discovered I tend to do my best work, when recreating the look of an older well known idea or style, examples being my Inkblot work or the Retro 1960s illustrations. But classic Disney house style is one that has eluded me for decades.

So, again, I say: why haven't I studied them more???

They were masters of their craft. experts in human anatomy, structure, pose, expression, lighting, and movement. So, if I want to get better at drawing in general, I should be doing more than just taking inspiration from them, I should be studying their craft. Seeing what they saw, figuring out what made them tick.

So, I've started copying various Disney characters in attempt to start picking up on some of the techniques and understandings of the human face. I figure if I force my had to do something it may have never done before, I'll start to see things in ways I may never have noticed. I'll start to get a feel for making certain kinds of pencil strokes.

I've started with Ariel. Because I'm an idiot and I chose my absolute favorite looking Disney character to start out with. A character I've noted endless times, is so hard to find good fanart of, because no one can do her justice. Well, this will be easy, then, right? *Facepalm*

I did a drawing almost every day, and after 9 of them, I decided to try my had at making something up from scratch with no reference. There were some bumps and bruises along the way, but I think I've certainly improved in only two weeks. I believe this is going to work.

Day 1:

Clear I was relying on my old habits.

Like playing a musical piece by ear,

instead of following the notation.

Day 2

Better in shape but backslid a little in the facial features.

Kinda made her look like a little girl

Day 3

Starting to look like the 90s TV cartoon.
Makes sense if you think about it.

Day 4

Starting to learn not to be timid with the features.

Mouth, noes, eyebrows, all can be big and expressive.
Might have overdone it, though.

Day 5

Really like this one. First started to look like the real thing.

Interesting how the chin bone becomes more directly visible

as the muscles in the mouth tighten.

Day 6

Decided to start looking for extreme expressions.

Still got that 90s TV cartoon look going.
General idea looks right but not as cute.

Kinda looks like Mom Ariel from the sequel.

Day 7

This one came out nice.

Pushed me to the limit trying to think about how the eyes move around on a sphere.

very helpful at that.

Day 8

Did two in one day.
And Ooooooh, something went terribly wrong, here.
Hair should be a lot more volumetric. And the lips...
Well, this is harder to do in black and white, I guess, but that's supposed to be her teeth.
She looks like an older Lucile Ball.

And here, I like how the face and shoulders came out,

and the pouty lips were an interesting thing to tackle,
but what happened with the eyes?
I was trying to follow my own advice of drawing the eyes on the corneas first.
It just came out looking way too big and creepy.

I feel like I'm backsliding...

Day 9

REDEMPTION!
Using the full page to draw is actually REALLY helpful.
Look at that volume. I've never drawn something with so much 3Dimentionality before.
The left eye is a little off but otherwise, I LOVE THIS!

Day 10

The moment of truth.

I was feeling confident enough, so I decided to test my skills.
No reference, no original, just memory and imagination.

And VUALA! This is easily the best of the bunch.
I of course went out of my way to keep it a simple pose and expression,

because, who are we kidding, here, I've still got a long way to go before this is engrained in my muscle memory. But I like it, and I'm ready to move on to some other characters.

I'll certainly want to return to Ariel later, she's just such a wealth of fun and extreme expressions. A great resource for study. I guess I just found myself swinging with three bats, here. The rest will be downhill from here, right?

...

Right?

Stay TOONED!

http://linktr.ee/cartoonicus_studios

Sunday, August 24, 2025

Shower Thoughts

In the age of AI art, I think DTIYS challenges may be more important than ever, as something that separates the artist from the machine, due to style. You can ask an AI to fake anything, but a human making a deliberate decision on how to personally reimagine something. That's something special.

So here is my DTIYS Challenge: "Cute Kitty on a Fence"

Feel free to put your own logo on the sign.

And if I see any AI versions, I'll come to your house and bonk you one.

Stay TOONED!

http://linktr.ee/cartoonicus_studios

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Since everyone's talking about the new Jurassic World movie, I'm just gonna leave this here.

The Predator’s Guide to Hunting Prey Jurassic Edition.

First of all, you are a large animal with a lot of body weight, and you expend calories like there’s no tomorrow. You will need to eat twice your weight in meat, at least once a week, so it is important to know how to catch food efficiently and effectively. This means cunning and stealth will need to be a big part of your arsenal. Be smart, ambush your prey, hunt at night, choose the weakest of the herd as your target AAAAAAND…

1.) Roar loudly to announce your presence.

Make sure the entire region knows you’re in the area. This will ensure that all animals you could possibly choose as prey know you are coming and are alerted to the fact that they need to head for the hills. Make absolutely sure that any chance of surprising your prey is thrown out the window. After all, you wouldn’t want it to be too easy. You’re a big heavy Tyrannosaur; you expend energy every time you go after food. If you miss, you’re wasting precious calories needed to survive and are going to have to try even harder the next time. So keep it fair. Scare away all potential prey, for miles, long before you get there, by roaring for no apparent reason other than to show off how big and tough you are.

2.) Attack every little thing you see, regardless of how small and meager it is.

Anything that can outrun, outmaneuver, or hide from you, is absolutely worth expending the energy to go after. Are you a lion in the middle of eating a big old water buffalo (brontosaurus) that you just killed and that will now feed you for several days? Are you enjoying the replenishment of all those calories you just expended in order to catch it? Now, a bunch of little mice show up and stand around looking at you. Here’s what you need to do. Leave that big old carcass of meat that you already have in your possession, and go after those little mice instead. Let some other predator come along and enjoy the fruits of your hard work while you expend MORE energy to chase down a couple of little morsels that would be worth less than an Hors d'oeuvre to a supermodel. Wait, are they not moving? Well, by all means, make sure you don’t attack them while they’re just standing there looking at you. Wait till they start running away and you have to go after them. Are they not running away? Are they making it too easy for you? Bring back that roar we talked about. Send them scattering in all directions, to make it harder for you. That’s using your head.

3.) Bite the hand that feeds you.

The last thing you want is to be trapped in a cage where they feed you free meals 7 times a day. If you find yourself within the confines of a perfectly maintained habitat, perfectly suited to your needs, without any need to go searching for food, you’ll want to break out of that situation as soon as possible. The last thing you want is to be taken care of. Are you smart enough to know the intricacies of the beings keeping you cared for? You should most certainly do everything you can to agitate them and push them to come after you and try to kill you. Constantly running away from them or attacking entire groups at once, will both expend energy AND put you in harm’s way, which is exactly what’s needed for survival, especially if you can already turn invisible and keep away from all harm. And if you do choose to use that invisibility, don’t just let your pursuers pass you by. Be sure to break that stealth and come slowly stomping out of the trees before you attack them. It’ll make it more ominous and give your attackers time to respond. Remember: Stage presence is key.

4.) Pick fights with other predators.

It is imperative that you maintain status as the alpha at all times. It doesn’t matter if another predator is as big and dangerous as you are. It doesn’t matter if it’s an entirely different species and you have nothing to compete over. It doesn’t even matter if you are a female and have no territory to protect. If you run into another predator, you make sure you attack that thing head-on and risk life and limb, taking it down. And of course, don’t eat it after you kill it. That would just be silly. You only want to eat the prey that hasn’t tried to kill you. Don’t forget to keep that awesome roaring up the whole time, especially at the end once you’ve won. You are the King (or queen) of the dinosaurs, and you need the world to know it. Every animal within a thousand miles will be terrified to be anywhere nearby when they hear that nerve-racking thumping reverberate through the ground, and you’ll most likely die from starvation when there’s no food to be found, but that’s what it takes to be a top-notch predator, the ultimate killing machine, a clever girl. Remember these important guidelines and you’ll be dead in the ground, while Hollywood producers make movies about you, in no time.