Stylised influences... where to begin?

IchII3D

I have always worked in a realistic fashion, to help broaden my horizons I wouldn't mind doing some stylised work, in some cases you could say cartoon style, over exaggerated world and human features. I assumed I would just get straight to work, but have found myself lost already. With no real drawing skills to express myself I was wondering what you could recommend for influence?

I have been looking through google and such but can't think of what to search for... cartoon, stylised all the words I can think of come up short for influence...

What do you think? Got any good advice to find some good art direction?

Dim

While I'm no expert, for me, the easiest place for me to start was to identify things about characters I wanted to emphasize, and then really push those to the extreme. Be sure to keep form very strong as well. Strong, clean silhouettes are a good place to start. Detail can come later (if at all), but really focus on establishing the necessary elements, and making them really stand out.

My $0.02

Joseph Silverman

Doodle! It doesnt have to be good, it just needs to be a jumping off point. Censor yourself less, look at other artists more, and draw a lot ore.

IchII3D

When I first started I was trying to look for conventional art, but found a direction in Team Fortress 2, Brink and Timesplitters. I think I will be able to get ideas and composition from realistic reference, but its the technical understanding of how stylised art is produced that I'm currently trying to get my head around. It seems to be dominated by the normal map and any detail is generally single coloured and themed. Having bold colours but working in small pallets as you move through the level.

throttlekitty

With most types of stylized art, it usually comes down to exaggerating or stunting:
Form and Proportion
Color and Lighting
Movement
(and sometimes Suggestion; think simple cartoon noses as an example)

Muzzoid

http://pacman23.deviantart.com
http://gueuzav.deviantart.com/
http://alohalilo.deviantart.com/
http://endling.deviantart.com/
http://cheeks-74.deviantart.com/
http://pyawakit.deviantart.com/
http://loish.deviantart.com/
http://larolaro.blogspot.com/
http://androidarts.com/

Thars some stylised stuff to get you started .

IchII3D

Thanks a lot Muzz, some really interesting work. Larolaros blog is perfect to get a good understanding of how some people produce this sort of art. I think I'm going to aim for somewhere in between Brink and Team Fortress 2. But will have to see how it goes. Its defiantly going to involve a lot of trial and error :P

I'm currently playing with the idea of a map/scene set in Frankenstein's castle or possibly the great fire of London, but not to sure yet. I like the idea of having some sort of horde, London been giant rats and Frankenstein been burning torches.

But hey, I always have random ideas with no time to do them, so will have to see how this one plays out :P