Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair Returns with a new revised edition!

Preston Blair began his career in the early 1930s at the Universal studio under Walter Lantz and Bill Nolan. He went on later to work for all the major animation studios from Walt Disney to The Flintstones at Hanna-Barbera for over 50 years. You will recognize his footprint in animation through the halcyon days of animation. However, he is better known for his book, Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair, published in 1948. A brand-new edition of Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair is available by Walter Foster Publishing, an imprint of The Quarto Group.

The book and its previous versions concentrate on the creation of characters and how to bring them out of stiff composure into fully animated cartoons.

  • How to construct original cartoon characters by developing a character’s shape, personality, features, and mannerisms
  • How to animate movements such as running, walking, dancing, posing, skipping, and more
  • How to create realistic-looking mouth movements during dialogue, as well as body movements and facial expressions while the character is speaking
  • The finer points of animating a character, including drawing key character poses and in-betweens

Full of expert advice from animation pioneer Preston Blair, and packed with helpful drawings and diagrams, Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair is a book no animation enthusiast should be without.

My priced possession, Animation by Preston Blair.

I know I am aging myself by saying that 37 years ago I purchased an original edition of Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair with a price tag of one dollar. That tabloid edition went through a lot over the years. It has helped me in many of my projects. From t-shirt designs to murals. It has paid itself many times. I can honestly say, I always go back to reference it repeatedly. It is the only thing that I have from my Commercial Art days in college. It still has paint blotches from my days in school. Austin Kleon’s book Steal Like an Artist came to mind while reading the book, Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair, it must be the book most artists and animators steal from. I would consider borrowing more of an artistic kleptomania urge.  You must have seen Preston Blair’s iconic bulldog in so many decals and trucker mudguards in your life. Preston’s influence is still around us. You just have to look for it.

The Collector’s Series offers a broad range of projects across a variety of mediums and genres, such as drawing, oil, acrylic, watercolor, cartooning, calligraphy, and others. This series is suitable for beginning to intermediate artists, and each title features in-depth instruction about how to work with the tools of the trade, master techniques, and use newfound skills in practical application.

It has been almost 75 years since Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair was first published and it keeps being revised repeatedly. At its core, it keeps its original essence. This is one book I will always keep as a reference. If you are an animator or cartoonist you would want to keep this prized possession a secret. Preston Blair’s love for animation has made animators flourish since 1948. I enjoyed reading the revised edition. This is the holy grail of all art books. The book Cartoon Animation with Preston Blair is what The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White are to writers. This is a great book for the holiday season for newbies who want to start to animate and oldies like me who want to polish their skills.


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