How to draw an overlapping crowd of cartoons

Welcome! This blog post features a guided tutorial of how to draw a crowd of cartoons, as if they are looking through a crowded portal at the viewer!

This mixed media art project helps artists to build skills with using LINE and SHAPE to render CARTOON CHARACTERS, creating a sense of SPACE by OVERLAPPING, and achieving UNITY through COLOR SCHEMES.

The goals of this composition are to (1) draw at least 10 different cartoon characters within the circle and (2) Use a limited color scheme to unify the composition.

Hey educators! Scroll below for a ready-for-the-classroom lesson of this project available for purchase!

STEP 1:

Use pencil to lightly draw a circle in the middle of the paper.

STEP 2:

Begin lightly sketching the basic shapes of the cartoon characters. It is best to start from the bottom.

Sketch the basic shapes of the first character lightly.

STEP 3:

Lightly sketch two more characters that are layered behind the first character.

STEP 4:

Continue to add more characters behind as you fill the circle up.

Consider exploring a few characters that are extended outside of the circle. This adds a creative touch!

STEP 5:

Continue adding until you have at least 10 characters and you’ve filled the majority of the circle.

STEP 6:

Sketch in the details and facial features of the cartoon characters.

STEP 7:

When you are finished with all the pencil sketching, outline your final lines with a black marker. Consider varying line weight by using a thick marker for larger details and a thin marker for small details.

STEP 8:

Outline the entire composition.

STEP 9:

Erase out any remaining pencil lines.

STEP 10:

Fill in any gaps between the characters with a black marker.

STEP 11:

To achieve color unity, choose a few colors that you think look good together! About 6 colors is recommended. Starting with your first color, begin coloring in your characters as seen here with the green color. Notice how the green is scattered throughout the composition? This helps to achieve visual balance with the colors.

STEP 12:

Choose another color and make choices about where to place them to balance your composition.

STEP 13:

Continue adding color! Notice how the colors are nicely balanced. There is not “too much” or “too little” on one side.

STEP 14:

Finish coloring your cartoon characters.

STEP 15:

This last step is optional, but it adds a sense of value and dimension to the work.

For this final step, consider using pencil or a black colored pencil to add shadows. As cartoon characters overlap, the character in front will cast a shadow on the character behind.