The Crown

I was trying my hand at creating gold and jewel effects using photoshop... It took me way too many hours this time around and the effects are not so neat...will try to do better next time :)

How to Draw Cartoon Santa

We all love Santa Clause with his Christmas presents and gifts, yet when it comes to drawing cartoon Santa not everyone is so much in for the excitement. The main difficulty most people experience in trying to create Santa cartoons is that they don't know where to start or what kind of costume details to pay attention to.

Fortunately, drawing Santa Claus is actually quite easy once you nail down some of the basic steps. So hopefully this article will help answer questions beginners might have when learning how to draw cartoon Santa.

Step 1. Santa Face

Remember his long white curly beard? And those big mustache that look like the shape of tree leaves? How about his nose? Simple, for a cartoon drawing, it can just be simple circle or oval shape if you prefer. Color it with soft pink, as Santa Clause always seems to have a swollen nose because of freezing winter cold. For the eyes just create two circular dots and it's all done.

Step 2. Santa Hat

This part is super easy. First draw the fur part that sits on Santa's head - draft a rectangular shape and then simply round up the corners to depict its softness. After that you can add a curly triangle with a circular shape on its end.

Step 3. Draw Body

Now you probably know well how big Santa Clause is! So draw this part of cartoon Santa with fairly smooth curly lines, just like you would drawing soft toys. Simplify as many details as you like.

Step 4. Legs and Boots

The easiest position to draw Santa's leg is when he stands straight up. All you have to draw are just two rounded corner triangles that have their pointy angles facing down. To sketch the boots, draft very lightly with your pencil two vertical rectangles and two circles by their sides. Connect these shapes with smooth outlines and you're good to move on.

Step 5. Gift Bag

You can really make you cartoon Santa carry a huge gift bag, almost the size of Santa Claus himself! This can be drawn using yet another simple circle or oval shape from the back of our Santa cartoon drawing. To make it look like as if he is really carrying it, pull the lines of the bag to go over his shoulders and connected to one of his hands.

Step 6. Drawing the Arms

As mentioned above, a cartoonish drawing can be very simple. The arms are where people particularly tend to overdo. If you just imagine them as big fat 'V' letters, then you got it. The gloves can be simplified to minimal as well to circular shapes.

Step 7. Adding Accessories

You only need to draw a few things and it will already look like Santa Clause's uniform: soft fur or felt cuffs around the sleeves, coat's center front and bottom edges; black belt below stomach level ; and a yellow square buckle in the middle.

That pretty much wraps up this basic lesson.

Historical Political Cartoons

The first real political cartoons were drawn back in the early 1500's in Germany during Martin Luther's campaign against the excesses of the all-powerful Catholic Church. During this time of upheaval, Martin was looking for a way to use the new printing press to get his message out to the masses. Unfortunately, the "masses" were largely illiterate peasants who had previously relied entirely on Catholic Clergy for all access to the written word. Since the message Luther sought to distribute was inherently against the Church, he knew he needed a different way to reach the common people. The political cartoon was born.

Looking less like our modern cartoons and more like detailed illustrations, these early cartoons made use of familiar characters and stories to appeal to the peasants in a way that they could easily understand. One of these early cartoons shows the scene where Jesus throws the peddlers and hawkers out of the temple, a Bible story that all onlookers would easily recognize. Opposite the Bible scene is another which shows the Pope writing out and selling indulgences to the people. The comparison of the Pope to the hawkers is unmistakable. In this way, Martin could expose people of all classes to his radical and complex ideas in a way that was both simple and entertaining.

The first real use of political cartooning by an American was Benjamin Franklin's 1754 cartoon "Join, or Die." Its image of a snake cut into eight pieces, each of which was marked as one of the eight colonies, was a direct call to all of the British colonies to unite in common cause against the French and Indians and their plans to take over land west of the Appalachians. Later, in 1765, Franklin would again use the cartoon to try to persuade the colonies to unite in order to fight the British for independence. In both cases, the image of the snake became a stark and easily recognizable symbol around which the unity movement could coalesce.

The cartoon medium works well as a way for a new idea to gain a foothold in the public consciousness because of the brief and simple message it conveys. Since many cartoons couch their dissenting ideas in humor or satire, the artist can get away with making a radical idea seem more socially acceptable and less dangerous to the powers that be.

Cartoons continued to have huge importance in American politics during some of the more turbulent times in our nation's history, like the government corruption of the late 1800's, when Thomas Nast drew his famous "Boss" Tweed character to skewer thieving politicians. It was during this time that America's first humor magazine, "Puck," was started, creating a new, larger forum for political cartoons.

During the early 1950s, the term "McCarthyism" was coined by the cartoons of Herblock, one of the first people to publicly question Senator McCarthy's communist witch hunt. Today, political cartoons still entertain and inflame readers of print publications, but perhaps a more modern incarnation of their ability to educate through humor and depictions of the absurd exists in television shows like "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report."

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Water-Art

I tried my hand at water-color painting last week after a long time...This one was a quickie. Hardly spent more than a couple of hours on it. So technically its unfinished..will finish it when I get time.
This is another sketch that I left mid-way....I am still deciding whether this should remain a sketch or if it should be painted...

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Watch Superman Cartoons Online

Watch Superman cartoons online for free. It seemed only like yesterday when those great cartoons about the most popular classic superhero that has been known to fly above the face of the earth have touched the television screens worldwide after it spread itself from the comic books it came from and into the media. Soon he was brought to life by great actors during their time making timeless the movies that features this caped superhero that brought the concept of superheroes in the entertainment industry. It has even made its way in this later generation where remakes and revivals were made that hit as if it was brand new. Indeed, Superman has become one of the best classics known in media entertainment history.

Now there are lots of classic and brand new authentic Superman merchandise available for the Superman fan to collect and add to his collection of priceless Superman memorabilia. All of this can be found on the internet and tagged with great sales and bargains for the shopping fan. There are lots of auctions on this type of merchandise too, so there's so much to see, even those who've never been such a big fan of the cartoon.

You can watch Superman cartoons online for free on the internet and on special websites that offer this kind of free internet service. Don't worry about missing the shows or episodes because they are all there ready and available for you to watch anytime and as much as you want.

Cartoons - Rare Animations

Everybody knows the very popular cartoon shows of our times, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Yogi Bear and The Flintstones, just to name a few, have become household names just about everywhere on this planet unless you've been living under a rock, but not all cartoons that were made became popular. Some were so unpopular that they only lasted a very few episodes or worse yet, were never released to the mass public. We're going to take a look at just a few of the rare animations that have come and gone (mostly gone) over the last 80 years. It should be pointed out that an enormous amount of research and brain drain was required to come up with these rare gems.

Back in 1964 there was a cartoon by the name of "The Big World Of Little Adam". It premiered on January 1 of that year. It was a simple show about a little boy, Adam, who went into space. During the time, the United States was very much into Gemini and the space program so this cartoon seemed to make sense. While over 100 episodes were made, eventually we tired of space and the cartoon itself has totally drifted into obscurity. The only thing remaining of it is the silly theme song that you can find and download all over the Internet.

In 1949 there was a movie by the name of "My Dream Is Yours". In this movie there is a scene where Bugs Bunny tries to wake up a little boy. Later on, he can then be seen singing a song with the two main stars, Jack Carson and Doris Day, wearing bunny suits. This movie has so dropped into obscurity that it hasn't been seen on network television in over 40 years.

If you're looking for really rare cartoons you don't have to travel outside of the United States, but back in 1924 Russia produced a little over four dozen propaganda films. These animations were never exported. They were made solely for the purpose of winning over the hearts and minds of the Russian people. These cartoons were anti American, anti capitalist, anti fascist and anti anything that wasn't the Russian way of thinking. Over 80 years later nobody knows what happened to these animations.

Even some of the more famous animators in history started off by making cartoons that nobody has heard of. For example, a gentleman by the name of Duane Crowther, who was a very famous animator during the 1950s, started off his career by creating a very rare cartoon by the name of Blum Blum. This was a cartoon Crowther made when he was only 20 years old. Blum Blum was basically a cartoon about a character who wonder who he is. The animation goes from the character starting off as Napoleon and then turning into a dog and a variety of other creatures.

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How to Make a Cartoon of Yourself

It seems like these days everywhere you look on the internet there are cartoon versions of people being used as their real pictures. This fad is getting more and more popular with each week that goes on. My guess is that people like them so much because they can still hide behind their screen but still show a little of who they really are!

A lot of people are searching on Google looking for custom avatars or custom cartoon makers but just are not turning up with any luck. Or if they do find some they find that the programs to make these cartoons are not free and are also not cheap either. So how exactly do you make these cartoon versions of yourself without spending a dime?

To be honest, it's pretty easy to do it! There are websites out there that will let you download a free toolbar that will let you go crazy creating free avatars. To make a cartoon of yourself, all you have to do is go to one of those sites and download the toolbar and follow the instructions given. The toolbar gives you a blank character and then you can add clothes and change hair color and more to customize your avatar so that he or she looks just like you! You have the choice to be a male or female, to select your skin color, and even eye color. You can literally customize your character right down to the eyebrows! It's easy enough that anyone can do it!

Looking at a Cartoon Movie Maker

If you are taking a look around for the next cartoon movie maker, you will learn that there is a great deal of work that you can do and that a lot of it can be of a fairly high quality!

If you are in a position where you are considering making a cartoon, you already know that you aren't getting very far without some animation help online. At one point, cartooning was a system that involved a great deal of work and manpower due to the fact that it was all about hand-shaded cells, but as we have come a long way from that stage, you might want little bit more information about what you have available for your creative endeavors.

When you are thinking about getting a cartoon movie maker, you might want to think about what it is for. Are you hoping to create a one-time animation project that will amuse your friends or loved ones, or are you considering putting some work into something that you will eventually turn into a more regular, regularly updated work?

There are plenty of examples of various cartoons online that are every bit as popular as the ones that make into onto the television, so think about where yu are aiming.

If you are looking for a cartoon movie maker, take a look and see what 2D animation software that you can come up with. If you are hoping to get a more professional work created, start with some free samples that will let you upgrade when you have seen what it can do.

For instance, you'll find that that the famous Adobe AfterEffects, which features excellent motion graphics and visual effects, can go a long way towards giving you the effect you want. Adobe AfterEffects will give a free trial to start and you can decide if this program is one that you want to invest in.

Are you looking to work in 2D or 3D? Do you have someone to help you? What kind of work do you prefer doing? You'll find that these are all important questions to ask yourself if you are considering getting involved with cartooning, and this is why few people do it on their own. Take a look around and see what other studios are coming up with and make sure that you read their tutorials and their FAQs.

Download Anime And Manga - So Much More Than Just Cartoons

More and more people are looking for options to download anime and Manga. A lot of people dismissed them as a fad that was bound to pass soon, but as we can all see now, they have made a firm mark and are here to stay.

Anime has its root in Manga, which is not just kiddy cartoon. It is an art form with beautiful graphics and drawings. Anime and Manga are suitable for people of all ages: you can find things that are deeply philosophical and touching as easily as you can find action adventure anime. Some of the thoughts and ideas dealt with in anime are contemporary interpretation of questions that have haunted men for centuries, and give you fresh perspectives as well as encourage thought, through an extremely enjoyable medium.

So it is only natural that people are looking for options to download anime and Manga. As with everything, there are plenty of options available, on and off the Net. If you step into a shop, you can easily find plenty of anime. You will have fairly good choice, but if you are looking for anime that is not quite mainstream, you will have trouble finding it.

However, you can find anything at all on the Net. You can easily download anime and Manga. The usual options are available. If you just type in 'anime' or 'Manga' in any search, you will find a deluge of options, most of them claiming to be free.

It is very important to take these so-called free offers with a pinch of salt. In some sites, once you have downloaded what you want, you will see that you can only play it using their player, which you will have to buy. Otherwise, you will have to buy their converter. Read the terms and conditions before clicking 'I agree'. Your time will be well-invested. Somewhere in the fine print, the catch will be mentioned.

Torrents are another options. They will be completely free, of course. But the price might be a bit too high. You are more than likely to get corrupt files that will not play, and that is if you are lucky. If you are not, you might get infected files that will crash your computer.

The best option to download anime and Manga is through websites that will allow you to download as much as you like once you pay a membership fee, which is never too much. These sites also have extensive databases, so you can find anything you want.

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Cartoons - Superman

The Superman character was probably one of the most famous creations in history. Superman first appeared in comic books. But it wasn't until Superman cartoons were made that people really got the chance to see the man of steel in action. We're going to briefly review the history and characters of the Superman cartoon.

It wasn't until 1941 that the first Superman cartoon came to be. Paramount pictures, that year, released a series of animated cartoons that were based on the Superman comic book that was already so popular. The first nine of these cartoons were produced by Fleischer Studios. But they didn't last long. In 1942 Fleischer Studios bit the dust and became Famous Studios which went on to produce eight more of these cartoons. At the time, these were the biggest budgeted cartoons around. This was during what was called the Golden Age of American Animation.

The Fleischer brothers originally tried to discourage Paramount from doing the cartoons by telling them that it would cost over $100,000 per episode. At the time, that was an amazing amount of money that was about four times the cost of a typical cartoon for the times. But Paramount wasn't about to be scared off. They saw something big here and agree to the budget. The Fleischer brothers were now committed to the project.

The first cartoon in the series, which was simply called Superman, was first shown on September 26, 1941. That year it was nominated for an Oscar for best animated short subject. It did not win, however, losing to Lend A Paw, which was a Walt Disney cartoon. But it didn't matter. Superman had left his mark on the cartoon world.

Unfortunately for Max and Dave Fleischer, after the first nine cartoons, Paramount took over production and tossed the brothers out into the street. These were very brutal times. The look of the cartoon itself didn't change but the stories did. The first nine cartoons had a more science fiction feel to them as Superman was seen battling robots, creatures from outer space and a number of other things you don't normally find walking around our planet. After the change, however, Superman started to focus on what was called World War II Propaganda.

The first nine cartoons also used the classic opening lines from the Superman radio series that we all came to know and love. The last eight changed these lines drastically until they were no longer recognizable. But the cartoons themselves were still very entertaining.

The early voice of Superman was supplied by Bud Collyer. He also was the voice of Superman during the radio series. The voice of Lois Lane was supplied by Joan Alexander who also played the same role in the radio series along side of Collyer.

After the 17 shorts, the series was cancelled, but that wasn't the end of Superman. Other cartoons featuring the man of steel were to come, which included the 1990s animated Superman series and the feature length cartoon, Sky Captain and the World Of Tomorrow.

Download Transformers Cartoons Episodes Online - First Season

I could not deny it, I was an avid fan of the transformers cartoons episodes during the 80's and it was a very huge part in the cartoon industry at that time.

I have been doing download of transformers cartoons episodes online, and came up with a summarized storylines below. I hope you'll enjoy!

1. More Than Meets the Eye - Part 1

The Autobots are attacked by the Decepticons while they are venturing in space in their vessel. And the battle moves into the Ark, which led to it crashing into earth's grounds. Then, after millions of years of inactivity, both sides are suddenly awakened, and the battle on Earth is about to begin.

2. More Than Meets the Eye - Part 2

Sparkplug and Spike offer their assistance to the Autobots after they were rescued from the depticons. Autobots will need all the help they could get to stop the decepticons from taking an advantage.

3. More Than Meets the Eye - Part 3

To stop the Decepticons, the autobots leave earth from a recently constructed ship and head for Cybertron.

4. Transport to Oblivion

The ship of the decepticons crashed, and they survived. They built a "Space-bridge" to transport energon to their toops in Cybertron.

5. Roll for It

Megatron returns from Cybertron, and with the anti-matter formula that enhances Megatron's cannon, he tried to destroy the Autobots.

6. Divide and Conquer

The autobots discovers where the decepticons are stealing energy. Optimus Prime went there and saves the humans, but suffer serious damage. He will die if the Autobots can´t find spare parts to fix their leader.

7. S.O.S. Dinobots

Skeletons of dinosaurs were found by the autobots. Ratchet thinks they will have a huge advantage against the Decepticons if they build the Dinobots. But the built dinobots are still too dangerous and must to be disconnected until a situation to prove what they can do.

I very well enjoyed the movie, and now watching again transformers cartoons seasons episodes.

To read more on :
1. Complete Season 1 Episodes Listing And Descriptions.
2. Season 1 Cartoon Episodes videos!
3. Where to download transformers cartoons seasons episodes online.

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Cartoons - Bugs Bunny

Cartoons may or may not have been made just for kids, but one thing is for certain. Cartoons have made an everlasting impression on all people both young and old. Some cartoons fade into obscurity quickly while others stand the test of time. We're going to be starting a series of some of the most famous and arguably most important cartoons of all time.

Bugs Bunny has been a cartoon character seen not only on the cartoons but in commercials for a number of products. Bugs has become a household name and an American institution.

Bugs Bunny was originally created in 1939, but it wasn't until 1940 when he took on a new voice in the person of Mel Blanc that Bugs became the character that we have grown to love. The truth is, nobody really knows who created Bugs Bunny. Speculation is that he was created by a number of people. Bugs did go on to become the first Warner Brothers cartoon and to this day, still the most popular. Speculation is that the character of Bugs Bunny was created to mimic the real life person of Groucho Marx. This may or may not be true, but there is a definite similarity between the two.

Bugs was a rather devilish character. He'd always manage to get everyone around him into all kinds of trouble while avoiding the same. He was the cartoon character's con man and escape artist. No matter how tough a spot he was in he always found a way out of it. Kind of like a Superman without the super powers.

And oh, the targets of his conniving. Bugs had a host of characters to play off, all of which were just as important in cementing the Bugs Bunny legacy as Bugs himself.

Probably the most famous and the one who Bugs got the best of was Elmer Fudd. Poor Elmer. All this man wanted to do was hunt, as he would say, "wabbits". Mel Blanc brought such wonderful life to this character with his garbled speech and dumb sound. Fudd was indeed what we call "bumfuzzled" or simply confused. No matter what trap he set for Bugs, the rascally rabbit was always able to weasel his way out of it.

Then there was Daffy Duck. Daffy was the wise guy kid and class clown who you both hated and loved in high school. Poor Daffy was also many times the victim of Bugs' schemes. In one very memorable cartoon, Fudd was hunting rabbits and while Bugs and Daffy were together, Bugs managed to convince poor old Elmer that it was duck season. So instead of shooting Bugs, he'd shoot Daffy. And of course the head would go spinning around until he was looking behind him. A real person would have been dead. But these characters just kept coming back again and again.

Not all of the Bugs Bunny, or what was known as the Loony Toons cartoons, revolved around Bugs. There of course was the classic matchups of Tweety and Sylvester, and Road Runner and Wyle E. Coyote. To see each of these duos try to out fox each other alone was worth the price of admission.

Books could be written about these and so many other Bugs Bunny characters. If you haven't seen the cartoons then do yourself a favor and pick up a DVD from Amazon or wherever you can get a hold of one. The resulting hours of laughter will be more than worth the price.

Dora the Explorer Cartoon: Teaching Diversity

It is rare that a show manages to be so overwhelmingly effective at accomplishing essentially everything which it sets out to do as the Dora the Explorer cartoon has proven to be. In many ways, the Dora the Explorer cartoon follows in the footsteps of such public television greats as Mister Rodgers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street. These shows, like Dora, managed to be entertaining, charming, and still teach children everywhere a number of valuable lessons which were about more than just your basic academics.

Indeed, the Dora the Explorer cartoon does teach many of the basics that children in the target age group should be learning, essentially an animated preschool classroom. However, Dora goes further than just your basic shapes and numbers by integrating a constant flow of Spanish vocabulary into each episode. This may not seem to be particularly significant at first, but here are two basic reasons which make this important in the lives of children today.

The first reason is the state of global relations currently. It is often said that the world is getting smaller every day, and for the most part that is true. Communications technology is making it easier and easier to talk to someone across the world as easily as you could talk to someone across the street. The borders between cultures are blurring and crossing at an ever-increasing rate. In this world, where communication is paramount, children who learn a second language are at a potentially great advantage over other children in the long run. While it is true that most high schools require students to take foreign language classes, a child's brain is far more receptive to learning languages in their early years. This means that the Dora the Explorer cartoon is introducing children to Spanish at the age when they are best able to integrate a new language, and thus setting them up to be well prepared in the long run.

The second reason this is important, though, is quite possibly far more important than the first. While the Dora the Explorer cartoon introduces children to the Spanish language, it also introduces them to elements of the Latin culture. These elements may be subtle, but they are the basis of a powerful message that is every bit as powerful as anything children are learning in schools. It is a lesson that is as vital as it is simple: diversity is good.

There can be no doubt that this is something the newest generation of the world's children needs to learn, as they are growing up in a world where so many people are still so blinded by where someone is from that they can never seem to see who that person is. Things like the Dora the Explorer cartoon have the potential to help a great deal to bring up a generation of children who, when they come in contact with someone who is different from themselves, they do not think of how those differences separate them, but rather they think of what those differences can teach them.