Project Two (con't): setting up the background

It's been nearly a week since that last post.  Well, we all have to work for a living and like most of us I didn't have much time for artwork.  Bummer, because I really enjoy it.

Anyway, I got to thinking about my Snagglepuss Poster.  What type of poster should it be? I wondered.  And I thought and I thought.

And then it occurred to me: how about a title card?

A title card is a type of poster.  It introduces the cartoon and gives you just the slightest hint of what the cartoon is all about.  But you can't rely on the title card to convey a whole lot of information.  Logistically, one guy can be making title cards while the other guys are still making the cartoons.

For instance, right now on Yowp! is his review of the QuickDraw cartoon "Bullet Proof Galoot."  The title card shows QuickDraw running for his life while being shot at.  As it turns out, though, the cartoon is about QuickDraw competing with a mechanical sheriff for his job.

Could you have guessed that from the board?  I sure couldn't.  So that's good, in a way, because if you decide to make a title card/poster it can basically be anything... keeps yer options wide open.

So, anyway, back to my Snagglepuss title card/poster.  I didn't have any particular cartoon in mind.  So I made one up; I call it "Exit Stage Left."  Highly believable because that's something Snagglepuss says all the time.

I like that video capture with the Art Lozzi trees and background mountains and I didn't want to lose that vibe, so I based a very simple title board background on that:

Now all I have to do is load my pre-drawn Snagglepuss onto this background, color him in, and my board will be complete.

A couple things I notice about Hana-Barbera title cards:

• They would stick with a very limited color palate... sometimes they would even be monochromatic.  We're talking about the cartoon, not showing off how artistically skilled we are (although if you ask me, those guys were extremely skillful in their creation of title boards).
• They kept the design very, very simple.  Again, the focus is on the cartoon, not the title board.

My little creation might be a little too elaborate.  We'll see how it works with Snaggle-buddy out front and center.

Snagglepuss is pink.  My base color is green but I added an orange sunset behind the mountains.  If I make Snaggle lean more toward orange than pink this might work out.

Also, note the orange highlights to the cloud-letters.  Those "clouds" are a little too neatly arranged if you ask me, so I just might put a slight wave in them... maybe that will give the impression of clouds being gently pushed around by atmospheric breezes.  The problem is, I think, there are too many letters and so I can't seem to create a spirit of spontaneity.

I like the not-quite-symmetric long shadows from the tree trunks.  The trees themselves are the same simple design as from the video capture.

Onward.