How to Add Motion When Drawing Cartoon Characters

When creating a comic strip, it's helpful if you can add motion when drawing cartoon characters. Movement is important to the story, and it's equally important for the reader to understand the motions that your characters make. You can learn this simple drawing technique while improving your cartooning skills at the same time.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Determine the types of movement that your character will need. This is particularly important when working in a non-erasable medium, such as ink or magic marker.

2. Draw the moving character or appendage in mid-motion. For example, if you're drawing a cartoon boy waving his hand, decide how far the hand would travel as it waves back and forth. Draw the arm and hand in the center of that range of motion.

3. Add double sets of curved lines in the areas of the drawing to depict motion. To indicate limited movement, add a single set of curved lines. For average movement, such as a wave, add two sets of wavy lines. For additional or fast movement such as running, add at least three sets.

4. Blur the area of motion and draw phantom copies to show excessive movement. For example, if your cartoon shows a terrified mouse running from a cat, first draw a running mouse, then blur the lines around his legs. Next, draw a second or third set of legs in the same area, but in a different pose. If possible, make the extra legs lighter in color than the originals. Coupled with double line accents, these phantom appendages convey high-speed motion.

Tips & Warnings

• To show a cartoon character who is shaking from nerves or cold, substitute squiggly lines for curved ones and add a few extra sets.