Ok, my interest for cartoon/comic book/sort of realistic type of drawing has been rekindled. How? By reading a few comix. What's a comix? Its a *coughadultcough comics. Fine, I'm a pervert. Well anyway, I've read a few "normal" comics like spiderman, ironman, Frank Miller etc. Yes their artwork is impressive especially the Ultimate version(almost realistic). The only thing that bothers me is how those iconic characters were drawn in the cartoons. I mean in the comics they look awesome how come when it comes to cartoons the quality is somewhat lower. I personally haven't seen a cartoon(except movies) that are as dynamic as anime. Well maybe the latest X-men series but still the actions scenes doesnt compare to the average anime. Don't get me wrong I love Marvel and DC. Its just that I got saturated with too much anime that I feel I need a break from it and wanted a good cartoon. So what did I do? I downloaded a couple of Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers episodes. Their jokes are still funny even though its from 1980's show.

If you guys haven't noticed, the cartoon industry is declining. Disney stopped producing animated films and cartoons these days are now being anime-ized. The main reason IMO is that most toons these days have little care for character designs and mature stories. Again, I also have my favorite toons I just wished they'd look much better. Examples Jackie Chan Adventures, Kim Possible or Samurai Jack. They have good stories and great characters. If only they designed them to look better, there is a possibility that there'll be more people that will watch them. I'm not saying that their designs are bad I'm saying that they could've done better. (Well my only qualm on Jackie Chan Adventures is the backgrounds).

Here is a bit of comparison between anime and cartoons with the similar character/story:

1. Street Fighter:

Cartoon:
[link] (notice the gayness of Ryu and Ken on the painting)

Anime
[link] (this is just pure awesome, the char design is almost realistic)

2. Powerpuff Girls: (I'm not bashing the original PPG, I love the original. I just want you guys to see the difference in the designs)

Cartoons
[link]

Anime:
[link]

3. Darkstalkers

Cartoon:
[link] (pure crap Morrigan is now a bad guy sheesh)

Anime:
[link] (just looking at Morrigan will make you drool)


You may have noticed cartoons always aim for simplicity and lacking any dynamic scenes(except for the original PPG). Well being simple works and can still be good but its kinda tiring. It seems like producers are doing it for the sole purpose of cutting costs. Or they wanted to be realistic but it sucks like SF:Animated series.

Yes I know there are good new ones but I think its either already too late to jumpstart the industry or doesnt have enough charisma to change the viewers.

I may sound like a hypocrite since I mostly draw anime. You're probably thinking that an anime artist can never appreciate a cartoon. Well your wrong, before the anime craze began I've been watching classic cartoons from Disney, Hannah-Barbera, etc. Most of my drawings before are anthros. I shifted my style when I got hooked to anime during my high school. Ok, we're getting off topic so I'll end it here with a message:

"I wish cartoons have dynamic scenes, detailed character designs and mature stories."



What this?!

Well I realized that I need to keep track of my progress so this is it. Its a progress chart of certain art elements. From now on everytime I create a dev I'll add points to it(IMO). There is no maximum points cuz art cannot be mastered. I realized that every time I create a deviation I learn a few stuff.

These are the latest [link] [link]

Form- 320
Perspective - 160
Colors - 230
Composition - 210
Style - 330

Well it seems that Perspective is still my weakness so I think I need to work on that aspect.

Suggestions/Critique are welcome...