More Spongebob Drawing Tips: Push Those Poses and Avoid Flat Staging

For those of you who enjoyed the first batch of SpongeBob Drawing Tips, here is the second half of the handouts I created a few years ago for the drawing and staging class at Nickelodeon. Thanks to Daniel, "datter," Helmy and Julian for their comments on the last post!

click on any of the images below to see
a nice BIG high-resolution page of SpongeBob Drawing Tips

LIFE and movement have angles and curves

Go on -- Push your poses...
don't just go with your first attempt.

See how far you can push it!

click on any of the images below to see
a nice BIG high-resolution page of SpongeBob Drawing Tips

Draw through the forms
to emphasize roundness and depth

Backgrounds: Use asymmetry and angles to
create depth and interesting compositions

Background Staging -- Avoid Flatness!

Use Angles, asymmetry,
overlapping and silhouettes to add depth

if you missed the first post in this series, you can find it HERE

How to Draw SpongeBob Tip Sheets

David Nethery at http://2danimationacademy.blogspot.com
and datter at http://finaldog.com/spongebob-tip-sheets/ both pointed out what I should have mentioned at the beginning of the first post: These drawing tips go way beyond SpongeBob...the reason I'm posting them here is that these principles can be applied to all kinds of different drawing and staging applications.

I certainly didn't come up with this stuff on my own...it's really a distillation of many of the things other people (Joe Kubert, Bob Camp, Bill Wray, Tuck Tucker, Jay Lender, Larry Leichliter, Dan Povenmire, Derek Drymon, Steve Hillenburg, etc.) taught me as I was learning how to draw comics and storyboards.

If you don't have a mentor or teacher to help you out, just study as much Roy Crane, Harvey Kurtzman, Dan Gordon, Jack Kirby, Hank Ketcham, Osamu Tezuka, Hayao Miyazaki, Billy Wilder, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Laurel & Hardy as you can get your hands on. Read John K's blog and the ASIFA Hollywood Animation Archive blog every day (visit the Archive if you're in Southern California! ).

Read comics. Watch cartoons and classic movies. Read 'em and watch 'em over and over until you can see through the plot and into the thinking and mechanics and construction of the work.

Don't forget to have fun along the way!

Spongebob Guide to Lively Poses by Sherm Cohen

Publish at Scribd or explore others: General Art Culture drawing cartoons

I'd love to hear your comments on these posts...and if there's something you'd like to see expanded on or developed further, just let me know! Enjoy and use and pass-em-on! ^_^