Been going through Preston Blair‘s explanation for squashing and stretching, particularly when applied to the head.
John Kricfalusi explains that the most varied area on a cartoon’s stretched and squashed head is the mouth area. The cranium essentially retains its volume because it is composed of bone and cartoons lends its credence to reality, so stretching the cranial area would not work (at least in this instance).
In addition to the cranium, it is important to note that the eye ovals also pretty much retain it’s shape, with variance in the eyelids and eyebrows. The expression is in the mouth and eyes.
Here are the drafts from my study of ‘squash and stretch’ on the head. I worked on construction, starting from the shapes which invariably made the detailing much easier. I tried to retain the volume as I was drawing. Of course these are Preston Blair’s cartoons.
