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Modern Cartooning: Essential Techniques for Drawing Today's Popular Cartoons
Aimed at beginner artists interested in cartooning and at the countless fans of cartoons, animation, and comics. Not only are cartoons a form of entertainment, but they're an incredibly popular style of drawing! With a fresh and easy-to-follow approach to cartooning, Christopher Hart shows readers basic tips for creating a cast of the most hilarious, outrageous characters inspired by today's cartoons. Chock-full of tips, hints, and step-by-step illustrations, Modern Cartooning gives artists of all ages the tools they need to let their imaginations run wild.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
164 people are currently reading
262 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Hart
155 books202 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
I started drawing character designs and storyboards for a small animation studio in while in High School. Cartooning and animation was a magical experience to me. I try to bring that experience, as well as art tips, to my readers. Their enthusiasm also motivates me.
Early in my career, my cartoon work got noticed by Watson-Guptill, a premier publisher of art books. They asked me to do a book for them on drawing cartoons. It sold 200,000 copies, which is a healthy number. So we kept going. I discovered that I enjoyed the art of creating books, which has its own special requirements. I also worked as an author for Random House, Quarto and Soho Publishing. In total, I have had 8 million books sold, and have been translated into 20 languages.
My book, "The Master Guide to Drawing Anime: How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates" has sold over half a million copies to date and is still very actively in print. An earlier book of mine, "Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics:" reached the number one art book in the country, according to Bookscan.
I've also been a cover story on the industry trade magazine, "Publisher's Weekly." And if you've read this far into my Bio, then I'm more impressed with you than you are with me!
Thank you so very much for letting me offer some inspiration to you in your art adventures.
Christopher Hart
I started drawing character designs and storyboards for a small animation studio in while in High School. Cartooning and animation was a magical experience to me. I try to bring that experience, as well as art tips, to my readers. Their enthusiasm also motivates me.
Early in my career, my cartoon work got noticed by Watson-Guptill, a premier publisher of art books. They asked me to do a book for them on drawing cartoons. It sold 200,000 copies, which is a healthy number. So we kept going. I discovered that I enjoyed the art of creating books, which has its own special requirements. I also worked as an author for Random House, Quarto and Soho Publishing. In total, I have had 8 million books sold, and have been translated into 20 languages.
My book, "The Master Guide to Drawing Anime: How to Draw Original Characters from Simple Templates" has sold over half a million copies to date and is still very actively in print. An earlier book of mine, "Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics:" reached the number one art book in the country, according to Bookscan.
I've also been a cover story on the industry trade magazine, "Publisher's Weekly." And if you've read this far into my Bio, then I'm more impressed with you than you are with me!
Thank you so very much for letting me offer some inspiration to you in your art adventures.
Christopher Hart
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 20, 2020
Me pareció excelente para entender fácilmente como dibujar Cartoons, te da todo lo indispensable para saber hacer lo que te muestra y entenderlo. Es como me gusta que sean los libros de dibujo, prácticos y concisos en lo que te están explicando.
January 29, 2019
Hvis du ligesom jeg synes, at det kunne være sjovt at sætte tegninger til noget af det, du tænker, så er det her et helt fantastisk sted at starte. Bogen er smækfyldt med helt simple indgange til at tegne de små tegneseriefigurer og sætte forskellige udtryk på dem.
Læs den med en blyant i hånden, og se så hvad du har tegnet, når du er færdig. Det ligner rent faktisk. For mig har det været en hel perfekt rejse ud i noget, som jeg absolut ikke mestrede og fortsat ikke gør, men som jeg nu kan til husbehov. Jeg kan rent faktisk akkompagnere en tekst jeg har skrevet med et visuelt udtryk, som ikke falder helt igennem - og så er det skide sjovt at tegne, når man kan få det til at ligne en smule.
Læs den med en blyant i hånden, og se så hvad du har tegnet, når du er færdig. Det ligner rent faktisk. For mig har det været en hel perfekt rejse ud i noget, som jeg absolut ikke mestrede og fortsat ikke gør, men som jeg nu kan til husbehov. Jeg kan rent faktisk akkompagnere en tekst jeg har skrevet med et visuelt udtryk, som ikke falder helt igennem - og så er det skide sjovt at tegne, når man kan få det til at ligne en smule.
November 27, 2018
A fast, fun read with tons of examples and step by step illustrations. Definitely aimed at making humorous cartoons, so lots of the advice is about what is funny. Relies a bit on broad strokes notions of age and gender.
January 20, 2020
A quick easy read that gets down to a lot of the basics about cartooning and drawing figures in it. It's a bit limited in the sense that it covers only a certain style of cartoons, but I think it does a good job at introducing that style. The way that the book is written and designed also reflects this philosophy. Bold, exaggerated, flashy, yet simple is the name of the game here. I do find it kind of weird that the author uses the word "funny" so many times (I don't really find that to be the right word, I think "exaggerated" or "off-beat" might be a better word), but I get the point. Only took me two hours to read and take notes, so doesn't hurt to pick it up. Drawings are nice too.
January 1, 2023
This book introduced me to drawing cartoon-like characters. I have always been a realistic artist, but I needed to develop some cartoon skills for an animation class I was taking. I found the instructions easy to follow and very quickly I was creating my own quirky characters.
April 6, 2019
I had fun learning. It helped me sell more of my graphic designs by including some cute drawing here and there. Thanks.🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍🦍
December 9, 2019
Lots of great tips and details, but perhapsa bit over-emphasis on certain character types.
February 24, 2025
Awesome! Perfect for a beginner like me. His writing is hilarious and he gives such great examples for readers to draw. He stacks learning so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Highly recommend!
January 5, 2021
This book is a quick, very efficient guide to drawing in a certain kind of cartoon style. It tells only exactly what you need to do that, focusing almost entirely on drawing people.
I think that there are two kinds of ways to draw in a simplified manner. One is where you couldn't draw any better anyway; the other is where you can draw realistically and well and have chosen deliberately to simplify your style, which hopefully shows in better results. This book seems to skip over into that second version of the simplified cartoonish style without having to to draw realistically first. In other words, following these instructions, it looks like you could learn to draw as if you knew about human anatomy and so on without actually needing to know all that.
(By the way, look at the author picture here on Goodreads, and then at the figure sticking out of the O in the book title, at least in this edition, which is his author avatar. Isn't it weird how they look the same? The cartoon is silly and scrawny and wears glasses, and all its details are so exaggerated none of them seem to match the photograph. And yet, it looks a bit like him specifically. That's as good a recommendation for this book as any.)
I think that there are two kinds of ways to draw in a simplified manner. One is where you couldn't draw any better anyway; the other is where you can draw realistically and well and have chosen deliberately to simplify your style, which hopefully shows in better results. This book seems to skip over into that second version of the simplified cartoonish style without having to to draw realistically first. In other words, following these instructions, it looks like you could learn to draw as if you knew about human anatomy and so on without actually needing to know all that.
(By the way, look at the author picture here on Goodreads, and then at the figure sticking out of the O in the book title, at least in this edition, which is his author avatar. Isn't it weird how they look the same? The cartoon is silly and scrawny and wears glasses, and all its details are so exaggerated none of them seem to match the photograph. And yet, it looks a bit like him specifically. That's as good a recommendation for this book as any.)
October 5, 2018
Wow. It works
I am not going to be a professional cartoonist from using this book. However, I am going to have fun with it while being about 20 times better than I as before. I'm glad I bought the book to refer back to for cartoon style. I used it like a text book and went over one section at a time. I feel more confident and ready to cartoon!
I am not going to be a professional cartoonist from using this book. However, I am going to have fun with it while being about 20 times better than I as before. I'm glad I bought the book to refer back to for cartoon style. I used it like a text book and went over one section at a time. I feel more confident and ready to cartoon!
January 2, 2020
Perfect learning guide for cartoon drawing
Very detailed instruction of drawing step by step. Good coverage of important aspects in cartoon drawing. Systematic flow of instruction. Highly recommended!!
Very detailed instruction of drawing step by step. Good coverage of important aspects in cartoon drawing. Systematic flow of instruction. Highly recommended!!
September 25, 2013
Modern Cartooning by Christopher Hart is easy to follow and the techniques are easy to put into use as. The book is well written and entertaining to read as well.
March 14, 2016
Solid cartooning basics book
Easy to follow yet super helpful. Nice examples, fun art and helpful tips. Would suggest for anyone interested in cartooning.
Easy to follow yet super helpful. Nice examples, fun art and helpful tips. Would suggest for anyone interested in cartooning.
August 17, 2016
this is a wonderful book for learning who to draw cartoons! I like that the author adds lots of homur to this book!!
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews