How to Draw a Cartoon Guitar
After more than a few requests, the cartoon guitar lesson is finally here. And to make things simpler, I decided to go with the acoustic look. Electric guitars are more angular, less symmetrical, and so - can be more difficult to draw.
Looking at the example to the right - right away you can probably notice a few errors in the design. But please remember... this is a 'cartoonified' musical instrument, and as such - we can get away with omitting certain details that would otherwise be present in a real one.
The main things I've done to simplify this drawing are: reducing the number of strings (3 instead of 6), simplifying the head and the saddle, and even omitting the frets altogether. Feel free to omit/add the details that you like. Heck, feel free to change the entire design too! Get creative! :-)
Well, enough talk... time to draw yourself a guitar!
First Step - Develop a Simple Guitar Guideline of Three Shapes
Take a look again up top... an acoustic guitar like the one you're about to draw - is composed of only three simple shapes. What shapes? A rectangle, and two ovals (or circles).
Here's how it all comes together...
In the fourth example, I've gone ahead and marked off the most obvious of features of any acoustic guitar - the tuners, the nut, the sound hole, and the saddle. Simple dots, lines and/or shapes get the job done quite nicely!
Next up --- drawing your cartoon guitar of course!....
And Then... Gradually Bring Your Cartoon Guitar into View
Compare what happens next to the drawing sequence of some of the other lessons on the site, and you may just be able to see a pattern developing. That is of course - working from the inside out. This method is especially helpful when you first have a framework to work from, aiding you in maintaining proportion and symmetry -- encouraging you to be creative and focusing on details.
Step by step, here's how the core parts take shape...
Starting with the head, sound hole and saddle... followed by the neck, soundboard perimeter... and the remaining details, it's easy to see how drawing a cartoon guitar in this way - is a good way to go about it.
OK - not much else to say or draw -- time to wrap things up! So, why not give your guitar some color and... perhaps a guitarist!? :-)
Very nicely done!
Recommended Drawing Resources
To further your learning and improvement, check out the following resources...
- Learn how to draw caricatures with Graeme Biddle.
- Discover how to use photoshop in a day. Makes everything so much simpler.
- Check out Chad Baldwin's digital painting techniques.
- Draw cars just like the pros, the pro being Tim Rugendyke.
- Want to learn painting? Look no further than Bob Davies' free watercolor secrets ebook.
