Powerpuff Tutorial, Page 15

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What the—a third page in two weeks!?

Alright, alright, settle down. Yes, inspiration struck again, and Bubbles' third appearance in the tutorial was the result. I'm having a lot of fun drawing her in it.

I can't emphasize the importance of overlapping the legs enough. Far too often, the legs are drawn with the "inside" lines snug up against each other. I guess people might think we need to see all of both legs without any negative space (white space) in between, as if the legs were pieces in a Tetris puzzle. Since this isn't what we see in real life, it takes us out of that "3D character in a 2D image" mindset and forces us to see just a 2D image. But if the legs do overlap, our brain is smart enough to know that there's more to the back leg than what we see, and it fills in that imaginary "dotted" line for us. And don't go thinking, "If I draw something just to erase it, that's a waste of time and space!" Trust me; your characters will look so much better if you do.

As for the height difference in the feet, that's an easy one to explain. Put a CD on a table, and look at it just above the surface, focusing on the points on the rim farthest left and farthest right. Now spin the disc* to the left (counter-clockwise). As it turns, the point on the left moves in and down, while the point on the right moves in and up. Now stand Bubbles on the CD, with her feet as the points on the rim. They'll move the same way. Even more so if you look at the disc from higher up.

Why bother with this? Well, because the ground, as we see it, is not a line, but a surface, just like the CD. Unless you're lying flat on the floor, points on the ground will always appear higher up the further away you look. And since Bubbles' feet are points on the floor, it makes sense that they would follow this rule.

Well, I hope you enjoyed having three pages up so quickly! I'd say the next one probably won't be ready as soon, but who knows?

_{*Obscure DDR references for the win.}