Creating Cartoon Characters by Mary Erickson, Ph.D., with Arizona art teacher Kathy David in conjunction with the exhibition at Tempe Center for the Arts

When animators draw animals, sometimes the drawings look real and sometimes they change the animal’s features. Look at how animator Chuck Jones changed the way a duck looks. He curved the duck’s bill, made the eyes bigger and lower. He also added a tuft of feathers on the duck’s head.

Jones drew Daffy Duck with a dark head and a ring around his neck, like a real mallard duck. But he also changed Daffy different in several ways. Compare these images. Look at the size and shapes of the eyes, duck bill and head. How are the ducks different? How are they the same?

Look at the drawing on the right. How did Chuck Jones change a rabbit to give it human expressions?

Exaggeration is one way that animators increase the expressive power of their artworks. What parts of the Road Runner did Jones make larger or smaller to create his Road Runner character? What shapes has he changed?

What parts of the coyote did Jones exaggerate to create his Wile E. Coyote character? When animators exaggerate, they sometimes make body parts bigger or smaller, angular or round and/or lighter or darker.

Jones was a master of using lines to bring his characters to life. How many different kinds of lines can you find in this drawing of a laughing rabbit?

Compare the lines Jones chose to use for the Grinch and for the rat.

How do the curvy lines of this rat relate to his character? Do they make him look more sweet or sneaky?

Find different kinds of lines Jones used in this drawing. light dark curved straight wide thin tapered

You’ll need a digital camera, a computer and Adobe Photoshop. Now, create your own cartoon character.

1. Create a canvas, upload a photograph of yourself and remove the background.

2. Use a filter called “liquify” to exaggerate facial features, apply emotions and alter body shapes.

3. Several steps are required to achieve this cartoon effect (including applying a surface blur filter). After completing the cartoon effect, create value shapes by applying the cutout filter.

4. Add the finishing touches to your cartoon by creating lines for definition. Then lighten the image with levels.

This student created a new character by replacing her face with a a dog’s head. The red outlines of the head contrast with the black outlines of the figure.

Check out the exaggerated facial features and lines this student emphasized to create this character.

Special thanks to the students at Tempe High School for their participation. Jones cartoons and drawings courtesy of: © Chuck Jones Enterprises and Looney Tunes TM & © Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.