Ken Hultgren (1915 - 1968) was an animator and a comic artist for Walt Disney and went on to write instructional books about cartoon-inspired drawing.
His construction method emphasizes the three-dimensional solidity, based on ball-shaped forms connected by a line of action.
His anthropomorphic animals adapt the animal types to bipedal poses.
Underneath cartoon caricatures are simple designs that he lays out as 2D shapes and builds out as 3D forms, complete with centerlines.
He often shows a drawing in two stages of construction, so that you can see how he carries the gesture into the whole pose, and how he alternates straight and curved lines.
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Books by Ken Hultgren: 
6 comments:
So THAT'S where I can check out Mr. Hultgren's lessons. The Walter Foster books featuring Preston Blair are wonderful also. Gonna get these two. Thanks so much!
Thanks! I have the Preston Blair book and this looks like it would be an excellent companion.
And I so wish today's American tv animation looked like this instead of the flat, garishly-colored, thickly outlined hot mess it is.
Hultgren's Art of Animal Drawing has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid - it's one of the few art books I purchased a second copy because the first was destroyed by overuse.
Are all these examples inked with a brush? The dynamic lineweight in wonderful. And so graceful.
One of the animators for Triplets of Belleville drops into my store from time to time and did a quick sketch of a character for my daughter. He used some of the same techniques you see in this post. It was something to watch - a 2B pencil, a piece of copy paper and presto a memento.
Great story, Bernicky! I love Triplets of Belleville. Everything Sylvain Chomet creates is fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
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