Journal Posting 7: Things I’ve Learned/Things to Steal
I love Cavin and Hobbes, so I just had to choose it and try to imitate it.
The way Watterson is able to depict spiky hair and a head without actually drawing a head is just so cool. I didn’t even notice it at first when I first read the strip, and it just comes across so well.
I think I did a pretty good job mimicking his work. Calvin’s shoes look a bit like tank treads, but other than that my art is instantly recognizable as Calvin and Hobbes. You can tell who it’s supposed to be.
To me, the style proudly proclaims “I am a cartoon!” but creates realistic details through the cartoon style, if that makes sense. If a stuffed tiger came to life in the eyes of a child, he would probably look like Hobbes. Drawing a child with spiked hair would look silly and unrealistic in many styles, but Watterson allows our brains to create closure on Calvin’s head.
Although I didn’t quite intend to, enlarging the panel to take up the entire page didn’t impede the art style in any way. His perspective and style works at the smaller comic strip level and at a larger, full-size level. The way he draws humans is so simple yet so expressive. This could be very necessary for my final project, which will certainly involve having to draw people (a tough challenge for the art-impaired like myself.)











