Abstract Expressionism developed in the context of diverse, overlapping sources and inspirations. Abstract Expressionism’s physicality comes from explorations of inner turmoil and anxiety. Some of this distress came from exposure to the disturbing reports of horrors and pain endured during World War II. Some of the distress came from the threat of a nuclear holocaust as the Cold War heated up. Their unbridled approach to making art mirrored James Dean (1931-1955) in Rebel Without a Cause, contemporary jazz and the free verse of the Beat Generation poets, such as Allen Ginsberg (1926-1997) and Gary Snyder (born 1930).

Abstract Expressionism has in recent years gained huge popularity in the art world. Modern art continues at a pace to develop in new directions, separating art fans into those who prefer the more traditional art styles and those who find the more modern approaches fresher and innovative.

Abstract Expressionism can be divided into two tendencies: Action Painting (Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Mark Tobey, Lee Krasner, Joan Mitchell and Grace Hartigan, among many, many others) and Color Field Painting (Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland and Adolph Gottlieb and so forth).

- Color Field Painting is part of the Abstract Expressionist family of artists. Color Field Painting is less about the process of making the work, which is at the heart of Action Painting. Color Field is about the tension created by overlapping and interacting areas of flat color. These areas of color can be amorphous or clearly geometric. This tension is the “action” or the content. It’s more subtle and cerebral than Action Painting.

- Action Painting emphasizes the process of making art, often through a variety of techniques that include dripping, dabbing, smearing, and even flinging paint on to the surface of the canvas. These energetic techniques depend on broad gestures directed by the artist’s sense of control interacting with chance or random occurrences

The expressiveness of this art method was believed to thoroughly release the imagination and ability of an abstract artist and therefore the thoughts and emotions behind each abstract expressionist painting were deemed as being just as important as the actual final painted work.

A great way to learn how to draw cartoon characters and add life to them is through studying some classical animation techniques. You don’t have to want to be an animator, but you should want to be willing to learn some valuable lessons that can potentially liven up your drawings with animation techniques such as squash and stretch, anticipation and exaggeration. Think of Disney and Pixar as examples. Have you ever seen a poorly developed character from these studios? Animators have to draw a character over and over hundreds if not thousands of times to get the movement down just right to show weight and personality. One reason is, to animate a character, the character’s design had to be able to convey the right message in its movement. If a character was poorly drawn then it would animate poorly, which would be unacceptable. The animators had to be able to animate and move the characters around in as easy and efficient manner as possible to capture the audiences attention. Pretty amazing for something as simple as a line drawing.The importance of a well drawn cartoon character was one of the crucial first steps in achieving their goals.

OK now, you can implement 4 steps for this process. Step one, learn how to draw basic shapes and turn them into a three dimensional counterpart, for example: a circle to a sphere, a square into a box, etc. Once you are able to do this (with practice), then you can move on to step two which is, manipulating the shape by twisting, squashing and stretching it into various forms and easily create many types of characters by combining shapes together. Next (as always) practice drawing constantly and consistently. You cannot skip this step and expect to grow as an artist and draw appealing characters. Once you are able to draw a basic character shape using the techniques described above you can easily expand and alter the shape(s) to your liking. The world is yours! Always remember to also draw from life as it is the greatest teacher, giving you the ability to draw realistic movement that will transfer into your character.

Visit the world of classical animation to see how you are able to use some of those techniques to enhance your cartoon character drawing. There are plenty of online resources as well as books available to help you, so remember to keep a sketchbook with you at all times. Sometimes, when drawing cartoon characters, you have to look outside your field of interests to help develop a skill and through the fabulous world of classical animation we can gain a lot of valuable inspiration, knowledge and insight.

Andre “Dre” Saunders attended Bowie State University in Bowie, Maryland as an art major. He started freelancing as a designer and illustrator and has worked on projects for such clients as Dupont and the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children as well as creating several covers for a small book publisher.

He is married with four children (two boys and two girls) and is currently working on several projects including a comic book series, a short film, a stage and screen play, a graphic T-shirt line and preparing several characters for licensing and merchandising.