Cartoon SNAP

“Tremendous Urgent Demand for Cartoonists” and other Vintage Art and Cartooning School Ads

“Regardless of how little you know
about cartooning now, you can easily qualify
for a position in this attractive,
high-salaried business.”
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“New Method Makes Cartooning
Astonishingly Easy to Learn!”

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“You will be amazed at how quickly it teaches you to draw salable work…”

”Enjoy the fascinating life of a successful cartoonist – easy hours, freedom from routine, your own boss, and $3,000 to $15,000 a year for this work that is play!”
…and that’s in 1925 dollars! Sign me up!

…and see more ads like this at:

http://bit.ly/ArtistsMakeBigMoney
http://bit.ly/MasterCartooningAtHome
and http://bit.ly/AnimatorsNeeded
and http://bit.ly/HiddenTalent

How to Draw Cartoons the "Old-School Way" by animator Bill Nolan

How to Draw Cartoons by cartoonist Bill Nolan

A couple years ago, our pals at the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive scanned in this "how-to-draw" book by animation pioneer William C. Nolan: "Cartooning Self-Taught"

Update: seems like all the old links to the Archive site are broken, so I'm posting all the images right here until they return to the Asifa Archive blog.

Bill Nolan is one of the hugest unsung heroes and animation -- is often credited with creating the rubber hose style of cartoons. It was Bill Nolan that helped Otto Messmer refine Felix the Cat into the bouncy, round, cartoony character that he became in the mid-20s.

I just love the giant hands on all these characters, reminding me of Bud Fisher's Mutt& Jeff, Elzie C. Segar's Thimble Theater (Popeye) and George Herriman's Stumble Inn. It's kinda strange how different decades have different cartooning styles. I wouldn't mind at all if this old-timey "bigfoot" style started to make a comeback!

This book is a quick survey of the most basic building blocks of how to draw cartoon characters: There are different mini lessons on how to draw the head, hands, feet, full figures, action poses, animals and kids. Like a lot of books of this type, it doesn't go into great detail, but it's fun for what it is!