Ed Hall is one such cartoonist. Ed began his cartooning career with a degree in Fine Art, so his familiarity with figure drawing was already established before he started being showered with awards for his cartoons. His drawing facility is obvious, and you'd think, considering that he does more drawing in a week than some of us would do in a year, that he could rest on his laurels. But like a true pro, Ed continues developing his skills in a weekly life class. I'm particularly interested in his use of photoshop to work with his drawings after (and sometimes during) class. I struggle with digital drawing - I never get the results I want - so I'm quite envious of the results he achieves. There are loads of cartoons on his site too, with some really impressive drawings among them, but you really must see his figures. They're lovely, exploratory pieces that make a fascinating counterpoint to the sharp-edged humor of his cartoons. Visit Ed's Blog .
p.s. - I was going to put one of Ed's drawings here to show you, but then I realized, being a figure drawing, it would possibly offend some readers... so I've taken it off. Those of you who aren't offended by artistic nudity, read his blog, trust me, it's worth a click or ten.
One of the big mistakes that I see inexperienced artists making when they draw animals is the choice of a poor reference photo. Before they even put pencil to paper, they've made work hard for themselves and limited their chances of success. It is easy to do: I look at this photo and see my cute puppy. It doesn't really register as a bad photo. But it would be really hard to make it work as a drawing, with his paws disproportionately small and his tail seeming to grow out of his head. This article on