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!

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