How these cartoons are created

Alvin & lila came to life suddenly one day, during a creative cartooning workshop given by Kevin Burgemeestre. During the story boarding part of the afternoon kevin demonstrated a method of using "cut out" shapes of body parts to put together and adjust composition. The idea was also presented as a good method to help exaggerate movement and make the illustration more interesting. Alvin literally dropped out of nowhere and onto my page. Lila soon followed, her hair and eyes where a way to balance the simplicity of Alvin's component parts


Not only is then method fun, it is also quick. I just get the pieces I want, and assemble the cartoon. If I need something extra I drawn a new piece. I slide the assemble pieces into a photocopying carrier sleeve (it has a white backing and an acetate cover that folds back and holds the pieces in place). I scan this and if necessary do a bit of tidy up in coreltpainr. Then run it through coreltrace, in outline mode and take the shapes into coreldraw for colouring. This takes as little are 5 minutes, a lot less that a fully handrawn cartoon.

... Norm