How I Draw TaleSpin Art

This is a tutorial specifically for drawing TaleSpin characters.
For general drawing help, please visit my Tutorials page.

The artistic process

When I'm setting out to draw a new piece of TaleSpin art, I go through the same process that I go through when beginning any drawing. First, I decide what my subject matter is going to be. Then I research it. In the case of TaleSpin fanart, this means finding a good reference pic to work from, since it is my goal to draw the characters as closely as I can to the way they appear on television. How easy it is to find a good resource to work from depends largely upon the character. Some characters, being more popular, are easier to find. The type of resource that I use depends on what I can find. Model sheets would be the best source to work from, but it is all too often the case that none are available. The next best resource would be a fairly accurate and clear screen grab, which I save and print out. Occasionally I use another artist's drawing as a reference, but only if it is especially close to the original Disney image. Once I have my reference, I begin to sketch. Using my reference as a guide, I attempt to draw a fairly faithful rendition of the character. When the image is to my liking, I ink it, scan it, and then computer color it.

Drawing Disney's characters versus fan characters

When I draw Disney's characters, I usually attempt to draw them in the Disney style. However, when I draw fan characters, I usually draw them in my own usual style, unless they are going to be in the picture with a Disney character. If that is the case, I attempt to make the character cartoonier so that they don't look too out of place with the Disney character. Scarlet drawn in my style would look pretty silly standing next to Don Karnage drawn in Disney's style. There are differences in how I color the two varieties of TaleSpin art. Cartoon and Disney style drawings are always computer colored in order to make them resemble more the animation of the show. Fan characters are colored according to my whim. Sometimes they are done in colored pencil, sometimes they are computer colored, and sometimes they are done in another medium.

If you have any questions about my art that were not answered on this page or on my Tutorials page, please feel free to e-mail me .

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