How to Sell a Cartoon Series: Draw Memorable Characters

All great television cartoon series start with great cartoon characters, from the Simpsons to Ren and Stimpy. If you're a cartoonist and you want to create your own great television cartoon series, the starting point in the creative process is developing memorable characters. To do this, you'll need to wear two hats: cartoonist and writer. As a veteran cartoonist and animation writer, I'll summarize what I've learned from pitching cartoon series to Hollywood production companies.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Eraser
• Pen
• Markers

1. Write a strong story premise that will drive your cartoon series characters. One or two sentences tops. For example: "An alien baby with superhuman strength crash lands on Earth and is adopted by a human family." It's this simple yet strong premise that drives "Superman"
2. The Boob Tube Couple Sketch your main character first. If it's a series team like Ren and Stimpy, draw both first, preferably on the same page. As you draw, keep the story premise in mind.
3. Write a brief description of your main character or main character team. No more than two sentences per character. For example: "Popeye is a weak, scrawny, one-eyed sailor who gains superhuman strength after he eats his spinach."
4. Sketch your main character or main character team again with the brief written description in mind.
5. Start drawing more characters. These characters should spring from your main character or main character team. Draw a villain or nemesis. Draw a love interest. Draw a sidekick.
6. Draw all your cartoon characters in a grouping that might resemble the front-view of a jailhouse lineup. This grouping will give you a strong idea how the characters relate to each other physically and perhaps attitudinally.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're unsure of any of the supporting characters that you've created, write a brief description of that character, as you did in Step 3.
• Note that, for the sake of marketing a cartoon series, a starting ensemble of cartoon characters should be no more than four or five.
• Above all, stay loose and let your creative process run free.