Looking for help in influencing my style

[Monstrosaur]

HELLO! So right now in my stage as a cartoonist, I do not have a defined "style". Its something that is constantly evolving with each day, and I'm happy with my progress. What i am worried about is the direction that my art is leaning towards. The style that is most influencing my art is Manga, which really isn't that uncommon. But when I look all these different styles of art, Manga really isn't the style i would like to end up with. Don't get me wrong, i love manga and anime, i just want something different.

The style that I would love to see myself gravitate more towards would be something along the lines of this:

(edit: here is original post: http://the-orator.tumblr.com/post/58713756373/tutorial-expressions)

I don't know what this style is called or how i would find more of it, which is exactly why I'm asking you guys for some help. It would be nice to have a small bundle of reference sheets and/or be able to read a few different comics that use this type of style (also if there is a name for this style!).

Any help revolving around this type of style would be super duper!

Thanks,
Micah

[joannekwan]

It looks influenced by Glen Keane's work, he's a big name in Disney.

[agentfink]

Yup. Or Don Bluth movies-- they have a very exaggerated look to them.

[phen]

There's a book you might find kind of handy for this called The Animator's Eye: Composition and Design for Better Animation by Francis Glebas. You can skim through a bit of it via Google ebooks here>> to test out whether you'd be interested. It seems to get at the basics of stylistic development with an animation-oriented twist! Hope you find some helpful sources! ^^v

[heterodont]

I'd recommend checking out Alex Ahad/oh8 as well. Maybe polararts/leerer-raum too? they render a lot of their stuff with very nice coloring but there still are some style similarities if you look hard enough!

[AnnaLandin]

I'm with Joanne - that definitely reminds me of Glen Keane's work. If you want a look at the design-work of Disney animators, I recommend this Tumblr, which posts concept art regularly.

[ashriott]

Like the above comments, Glen Keane! I immediately thought of his very animated and expressive sketches when I saw your art. He has a way with the stretch and squash which gives his characters a lot of dynamism. On the other hand, your style isn't "Disney" either. I can't think of the exact term to describe your style unfortunately ><

[getsuart]

Definitely Disney, the author also talks about Glen Keane's way do draw (here is the original post).
I don't have a comic to show you, but I remember Katikut having a great inspiration from Disney at some time. Check her gallery if you want

[Monstrosaur]

Thanks many for the suggestion, with Christmas coming up, I might just get it!

[camillabluejay]

Squash and stretch is an animation term. It looks like you want an art style that has a lot of movement to it, which is why people are suggesting Glen Keane. I would recommend just looking at different animators in general, and also this book: http://www.amazon.com/Drawn-Life-Classes-Stanchfield-Lectures/dp/0240810961.
In general, I wouldn't worry to much about how your style is shifting. Alot of it is subconscious, and it will change a lot over the years. Follow alot of different artists, and draw a TON, and eventually it will turn into something you like.

[Monstrosaur]

Yeah I think you nailed what I'm looking for. My fear was that it would find myself in them cut/paste quality that I see in a lot of the features for manga characters,this book seems super helpful, I'll have to check it out.

[Monstrosaur]

ahh this is a really nice page, thank you for sharing it!

[shaylafarley5]

By the looks of things I'll say just watch the hand drawn Disney movies and some of their animated movies. They way they draw and animate their characters are very lively.
They also have some artist/animated books that i wanted to buy that can help teach you. Even stuff from pixar.

[zjwestbrook]

The thing I thought of was Rescue Rangers. I'm not sure if he was directly involved with that show, but he definitely influenced it.