Bob Camp Shows You How to Draw Cartoons Better...or How to Draw Better Cartoons.

Bob Camp is a really swell guy.

When I got my first job in a cartoon studio, I didn't know jack about how to draw for animation. I was a comic book guy. Never really interested in animation up to that point because I had so many misconceptions about it. I (stupidly) thought that if you worked in animation, you had to draw the same picture a thousand times in row, moving each pose just slightly until you died from eyestrain and carpal tunnel.

Lucky for me, Bill Wray of The Ren and Stimpy Show liked my comics enough to talk with me about doing storyboards. He straightened me out a lot about the art and artistry of great animation (Thanks, Bill!). I didn't get that storyboard gig, but I did get the chance to work on the last season of Ren and Stimpy as a trainee in the character layout department. That's when I got the chance to work with the wonderful Bob Camp.

CLICK on the thumbnails above for some
groovy cartooning lessons from Bob Camp!

One of the coolest things Bob did in the studio was to have some informal drawing theory classes in the early morning before the start of the workday. I took a lot of notes, and I still refer to them today. Basic stuff...solid building blocks of character design and staging. The stuff most of us need to be reminded of all the time.

Anyway, I haven't seen Bob Camp in ages, but he's started his own blog over at http://bobcampcartoonist.blogspot.com.

And he just posted a whole bunch of fantastic scans of some of his drawing theory lessons. If you like cartoony cartoons, and you'd like to learn how to draw better, Bob Camp's drawing lessons are a great place to start! Thanks, Bob!