The idealized female form has been the subject of many. The cartoon female is equally diverse in its various proportions and styles. It's a fine art in itself to make a female cartoon character appealing, much less anatomically elegant and convincing.



Some who have inspired in this field are: Glen Keane, Fred Moore, Earl Oliver Hurst, Mary Blair...the list goes on and on.



Elsa Chang is currently a freelance character designer and in her latest self published sketchbook, she has amassed another collection of drawings of the feminine and zoological variety. They are characters that fit within the scope of the standard Disney influenced western animation genre but she does it with a flair that feels fresh and uniquely her. These are not just studies of figures posing, these characer studies actually have character that can be a struggle to capture for many artists. 






The confidence of the ink work and fluidity is superb and effortless. She is often not so much drawing as she is creating work of calligraphy. I would even venture to guess that she has had english or chinese calligraphy as part of her past training.
The book its self is only thirty two pages, and seemingly with a lot of negative space, but with one to two figures poised per page it feels a bit like a fashion catalog and very much fitting of the staple bound medium she chose to publish this book.





(Fashionistas come in all sizes and shapes. Mint Corral 1 has even more examples of this.)






Each book is only $9.95, so it's no brainier to get Mint Corral 1 and 2 as a set.

You can also browse some of her original ink drawings, some of which are still available here:
http://www.gallerynucleus.com/artist/elsa_chang



(OMG! look at this horse drawing...I love the balance of black patterns and the way it leads your eye around the drawing. This is one of my favorites and for $60 you now know what to give to the horse / art lover.)

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