How to Draw Retro Cartoon Characters | 1920s Rubber Hose Art Style Tutorial

One of the most asked questions we get at RetroSupply Co. HQ is, "How do I get my work to look like X?" Usually, that means a specific period in time or a particular style. We get it; having the right tools in hand can only get you so far if you don't know what distinguishes one style from another.

In this tutorial, we're going over the Rubber Hose style, including:

• How Rubber Hose characters are constructed.
• How Rubber Hose design elements enhance its look.
• How to apply the Rubber Hose style to your work.

By the end, you'll not only know why this style looks the way it does, but you'll be able to make artwork just like the pros did back in the day.

So, let's get into it!

Watch Our tutorial Video

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In this tutorial we'll be using the following products to make our character.

• Standard Pens
• DupliTone

You can follow along regardless of what brushes you're using. The important thing to keep in mind is that your brushes can achieve the same stylistic effects mentioned in the video. We'll get into more detail about that later, but to keep things brief, pay attention to the following.

• Line Weight: Choose mono-line brushes for the Rubber Hose. That means the size of the brush stays consistent or with minimal variation.
• Color: Animated Rubber Hose cartoons were colored with flat painted cells.

Let's get to the details with that all out of the way.

What defines Style?

Style is comprised of the decisions you make and the limitations you face.

New artists seem to ask more than anything else how to find their style. But what does that mean exactly? Essentially, style is down to the choices you make.

The artists themselves drive some of these choices, the aesthetic elements that appeal to them. The characteristics of big eyes, small mouths, and pointed noses you see in Japanese animation are inspired by the facial features of cats. You might be inspired by the things around you, too. Ensure they're intentional and something you want to repeat, as these choices will define your work.

Other times, stylistic decisions are dictated by limitations. Artists advertising punk shows used cheap laser printers to reproduce their flyers. This made detail work tricky and gave their art a grungy, lo-fi look. These quirks were folded into the artists' intentional choices as they adapted to their tools.

When recreating a particular look of the past, think about the intentional choices the artists might have made and the limitations they faced that would combine to inform its style.

1920s Rubber Hose style

The "rubber hose" style was developed along with the invention of animation.

The 1920s were a time when film was becoming not only more accessible but commodified. The burgeoning film industry was wildly popular right from the beginning. As unbelievable as it might seem, animation is a very young technology. Early experiments had existed for a few hundred years, with the zoetrope being the closest to what would eventually become animation. It wasn't until 1908 that Émile Cohl created the first entirely hand-drawn animation, and the "rubber hose" style started developing a decade later.

Rubber Hose was so named because of the wiggly, boneless limbs the characters had, giving the appearance of being made of a "rubber hose." The big, bold movements and expressions of Rubber Hose-style characters were due to the lack of sound and remnants of the age of theater. You must use big emotions to communicate what's happening in a scene. So don't hold back!

Constructing a Rubber Hose Character

Rubber Hose characters are round and bouncy.

Now that we know how styles are developed and the history of the Rubber Hose style, let's explore what characterizes it.

What defines the Rubber Hose style:

• Round shapes with no sharp angles.
• Highly exaggerated anatomy with bendy "rubber" limbs
• Bouncy poses and big facial expressions.

As we mentioned above, this animation style developed along with the silent film era, which was based on stage acting. All three have something in common: big, exaggerated movements and facial expressions. With no sound for dialogue to give context to the scene, actors had to make big, obvious gestures. This was also influenced by acting on the stage, where actors needed to ensure even audience members in the nosebleeds could understand what was happening.

This translates visually through huge facial features, expressive bendy appendages, and exaggerated poses that give the impression of movement. Remember, too, that this is an animated art form, so try to avoid anything too static.

Design Elements of a Rubber Hose Character

Consistent design elements solidify and enhance a character.

Consistent design rules help enhance characters and give your work a recognizable style. While a character's construction can sometimes be the product of technological or other limitations, design is all down to choice and personal aesthetics.

Design Aspects of Rubber Hose:

• Dot or "pie cut" eyes and big rubbery mouths.
• Minimal features; keep it simple!
• Silly costumes.
• Other elements that add personality and distinction.

Design should enhance, not detract from, your overall goal. When considering the Rubber Hose style, consider that it's intended to move at 20-30 frames per second. Would you want to draw highly detailed clothing hundreds or thousands of times? Probably not. Keep details simple and graphic.

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Applying Rubber Hose Style to Your ARt

Using the construction and design guidelines we established earlier you can apply them to your character.

We're going to adapt our mascot for this exercise, but you can start from scratch if you'd like. Depending on how your work is, it may be easier to have a blank canvas. Regardless, these steps will apply

Rough Sketch

This will build the foundation of your final artwork, and because expression and exaggerated poses are so important, you'll want to make sure you're solid here. Keep your forms round and bouncy. We built on sweeping, curving lines to form a skeleton.

Refined Sketch

Once you have your pose and rough shape blocked out, refine your sketch with more details and those elements to enhance the design. These clothes, accessories, and other components will make it into the final illustration.

Inking

Animation relies on consistency because the artists must redraw thousands of times. Variation in line weight makes the characters wiggle, which is often ugly and distracting. When inking your own work, stick with a pen that has a consistent line weight, such as a monoline brush.

Color and Detail

Early animation used flat blocks of color painted on cellophane or plastic "cells" with shading and detail reserved for the static backgrounds. Color your character in flat greyscale.

You'll notice that our illustration incorporated halftones to align with our original mascot design. This is not historically accurate. However, as we mentioned before, style comes down to your choices. You can move away from the design standards of your reference so long as it is done thoughtfully and intentionally.

Final Thoughts

Recreating the authentic vintage style of a particular era comes down to paying attention to the decisions and limitations made at the time. You don't have to be a history buff or slog through a back catalog to pick out the similarities that artwork from that era shared with each other.

To recap, we guided you through recreating the Rubber Hose style, including:

• Using bold, exaggerated poses and facial expressions.
• Using simple features and flat coloring.
• Using mono-weight lines and minimal details.

Keeping all this in mind will make adopting a Rubber Hose style in your artwork easy and intuitive. You'll have fun and make great art!

Try out the Rubber Hose style to practice what you learned. Share what you make by tagging us on Instagram. We might even post what you create!

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