Cartoon & Comic Drawing for Beginners

What you'll learn

Learn cartooning, comic drawing, and visual storytelling with beginner-friendly drawing courses in Sydney.

Cartoons and comics are everywhere, from the single panel editorial cartoons of newspapers to comic books, graphic novels, web comics, and the walls of city streets. This Cartoon and Comics for Beginners course will teach you how to get started creating your own cartoons and comics, while developing a range of fun and practical drawing and storytelling techniques. If you struggle with stick figures and haven't picked up a pencil since your school days, never fear, this class is not about perfect drawing skills. Throughout the course, we will demystify drawing to help you create simplified and expressive cartoon characters, comic panels, and visual stories, while exploring comedic pacing, dramatic tension, panel layout, and clear visual flow for the reader.

This beginner friendly class is based around your own ideas, your stories, jokes, characters, comics, and personal style. You will start with an idea and develop it over the 6 weeks by applying what you learn in class.

Basic caricature for political cartooning will be included in the course; however, due to its reliance on a strong understanding of portraiture, caricature as a stand alone form of cartooning will not be covered in depth.

Students are encouraged to bring images/copies of cartoon styles they're interested in.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this course, you will have explored concepts and techniques such as:

• Develop a cartoon from an idea to a finished strip or series of single panels
• Have an overview of the history of cartoons, the difference between comics & cartoons, various formats, etc
• Understand the difference between drawing from observation and drawing with symbols
• Recognise the relationship between Realism, Abstraction & Cartoons
• Understand how stories are told with still images to create a sense of time, place, mood, atmosphere, etc.
• Create pacing for humour or drama
• Utilise a range of techniques for coming up with and developing ideas
• Use stick figures as the starting point for more advanced figures
• Apply the rules of facial proportion and how to bend them
• Draw a huge range of faces
• Design your own character or cast of characters
• Use words and images together for maximum effect
• Understand composition and know how to place cartoons within the frame and across the entire page
• Tackle basic form and perspective to give extra weight and dimension to drawings
• Use line in a variety of ways for a variety of effects
• Use a range of materials to bring your cartoons up to a finished quality

Course content

During the course, participants will work with techniques and ideas such as:

• Overview of cartoons - history, types of cartooning, etc

• Visual Storytelling: How do cartoons work?

• Brainstorming, Ideas, Inspiration

• Understanding Drawing

• Iconic Cartooning: Keeping it simple

• Beyond the Stick Figure: Drawing people

• Faces in Cartooning

• Character Design

• Words & Images

• Composition: Panel & Page

• Basic Form & Perspective

• Line: Lineweight, Expressive line, etc

• Materials

Intended audience

Who is this cartoon drawing course for?

This course is for beginners, as well as those who have had some prior experience and would like to develop their techniques and skills. 

Course venue

Rozelle Campus

2A Gordon Street, Rozelle NSW 2039 (corner of Gordon St & Victoria Rd in the grounds of St. Joseph's Church)

Course materials

What to bring to class

• A3 sketchbook
• HB & 2B pencils
• Pencil sharpener
• Eraser

Other materials may be required for certain projects, and these will be discussed in class.

Additional Information

Content may vary slightly depending on class pace, participant interests, and instructor approach.