Hand Drawn Animation - Tumblr Posts
⨀ this is a bit old but I made a UTAU cover for this meme song that was making the rounds. since it had my girl Adachi Rei in it, I couldn't resist making a version with the OG robotic girls: Nijimine Kakoi and Nene Nene.
⨀ a random hand-drawn Martin animation test I did to de-stress back in 2022.
‘Extremes & Inbetweens’-
In the mechanic anatomy of an animated scene, there are essentially just 2 types of drawing- they are either an extreme or an inbetween (and sometimes a mixture of both within a drawing). This identification helps keep the animation workflow streamline and clear.
The extremes charted the path of an action, providing all necessary anchor points and act as the skeleton that holds a movement.
The inbetweens are strictly followers, following diligently within the established charted path by the extremes and control the velocity of a movement. The inbetweens filled in the ‘space-time’ dimension, providing a ‘feel’ (like mass) to the skeletal structure made of extremes.
Generally we put emphasis on the extremes, but the inbetweens are equally important as the flows of velocity are also critical information. (Imagine all the extremes are in right places but the inbetweens while staying on path but spacing relation is off, we’d get a very ineffective result.)
In attempts to communicate the animating process, we named drawings to describe our process. Because there are many different approaches, the terminology can become cumbersome, causing the workflow to be unnecessarily complex to understand.
The many terms are keys, storytelling keys, extremes, breakdowns and inbetweens. For me, the terms can be understood as follow-
Keys- are the major moments in an action. They are extremes but fewer in numbers and incomplete by themselves. They need more added extremes to uphold a movement.
Storytelling keys- are extremes that address the emotional points in a scene. There might be just one storytelling key or several, pending on the complexity of the emotional flow. They too are incomplete by themselves and need supportive extremes to be complete.
Breakdowns are trickier based on certain workflow. They can be a breakdown extreme or the simpler breakdown in-between. Originally, a breakdown is really an inbetween that addresses the widest gap between extremes.
In shaping up an animating workflow, it is very resourceful to fully understand the functions of terms in relation to personal significance as they will affect communication in a more collaborative environment.
And so truly- it is just extremes and inbetweens (in an equal and balance partnership).
Hey there, blenderbeetle! Thanks so much for the mail. I can’t say that there’s any one perfect way to learn animation (if there is, I certainly haven’t found it), but I do have few personal tips that will hopefully help you as much as they’ve helped me. Some of these points are lifted from others posts I’ve made in the past, but fleshed out a bit more, along with a ton of new ideas as well.
First off, for anybody starting out, I highly recommend reading, studying, and copying from Preston Blair’s Advanced Animation. The name itself is pretty misleading- it actually starts from the very basics of construction, and continues from there into other important aspects, like strong lines of action and squash and stretch. It’s also where I started when I began getting more serious about animation, and I would absolutely say it has been my one of biggest helps. Start from the beginning, follow everything step-by-step as explained by the book, and check your work along the way. Having a good grasp on construction will help immensely with your endeavors (for it certainly did for me)
^One very important thing to keep in mind when you’re copying these drawings is that the goal isn’t necessarily to be able to draw those poses and examples perfectly, but to be able to take what you’ve learned from each example and apply it to your own drawings and animation. Your copies don’t have to be perfect, but you do want them to be very close to the examples, and follow logical construction progression. Because trust me, if you try to make them perfect (like I often tried to when I did them) you’ll end up driving yourself crazy over tiny details and forgetting what the whole point even is (like… me, when I did them). It’s pretty tedious and painful at the beginning, but the more you do it, the easier and faster it’ll become for you. I’m still not the best at it, but I can definitely say I’ve gotten much better over time.
Even if you think that you’ll never be drawing those types of “old-fashioned” characters, you can still use what you’ve learned in your own stuff. Seriously, these principles are pretty much universal, and can really help with art and animation!
Continuing on…
Study from the best! There are a ton of great artists and animators out there to study and learn from, in both the present and past. There are so many awesome animators even just here on Tumblr! Personally, I love to watch and analyze frames from 40s and 50s Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons (I’m very fond of WB directors Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett— their work is always on-point.) I still get amazed at how skillfully those animators could move those characters. Also, check out Sakugabooru. Tons of wonderful clips from both eastern and western animators are featured, and you can find almost anything you’re looking for, whether it’s character acting or lovely effects animation. While the focus is primarily on traditional 2D animation, you’ll also find some CGI in there too. (My personal favorites are the 2D/CGI blends!) There is some 18+ content there as well, so if you don’t want to see that, make sure you check the tags and rating before looking at a clip. They’re usually a good indicator.
Yes, I realize the irony of me saying that last “18+ warning” part here on Tumblr of all places, but that’s how I roll.
Also, study from real life. Start to observe what objects (and people, and animals!) actually look like, rather than what you think they may look like. Once you do that, see if you can apply what you’ve observed into your own work!
If possible, find rough and unfinished versions of animated scenes, like these featured at penciltests . These are really cool because you can clearly see the general forms and construction lines, and get a feel for the process the animator used, all without anything else to distract (like final effects, coloring, etc.)
Along that vein, good ol’ model sheets are also great. In my opinion, the best model sheets to study are the ones that demonstrate some sort of progression in how the character is drawn:
On general animation:
When you start animating, start with the basic/general forms of your character/object and continue from there. Animating details and everything else all at once on a complicated character can get confusing, so I find that it tends to be easier to drop those details and get the general forms and motion down first.
Sometimes, I like try animating an action using the fewest frames possible. It can be fun to see what kind of impact you can achieve with just the bare necessities, and good for practice.
If you’re making a project that’s a bit longer or a bit more complicated than the usual gif, make some sort of plan. It could potentially save you a lot of time, especially if you end up forgetting something that you were supposed to put in. If you have a set structure and plan, it could also help you stay within your own guidelines. Because most of the animations I make are short and typically have next to no plot or narrative, I don’t really have a need for heavy planning or storyboarding. Still, a good plan could definitely help you in visualizing where you want to go, and can help you estimate how long something may take.
I just know, know, know you’ve heard this so much before, but truly, keep at it. Every step counts!
Like I said at the beginning of this post, I don’t think there’s any one perfect way to learn animation, but I sincerely hope you’ll find these tips helpful. Being a self-taught animator as well, I can totally sympathize with you. But honestly, things will get better before you know it!
Lookie:
Yep. Here are a couple of my ancient, all-out-wonky animations that I dug up, dated late 2010 through mid 2011. They were made in my very first animation software, Flipnote Studio for the Nintendo DS (even before I got into Inchworm Animation!) That really puts some things in perspective! Really, I find it absolutely astounding to think that I would be putting out *anything* near what was in my last post. Practically everything I’ve learned so far about animation has come from what I’ve discovered on the internet…. And, well, watching a ton of movies and cartoons. I can’t tell you how how much the information that I’ve found (and am still finding!) and the friends I’ve met (and am still meeting!) have helped me.
Thanks again for the mail! If you or anybody else has anything to ask, please don’t hesitate.
‘See Motion When Animating’-
To me, it is more natural to create movements from a motion point-of-view rather than a freeze-frame mindset. It is a common tendency to hold on to each drawing as we animate, becoming disconnected with its velocity, making each as beautiful and in perfect form as possible, inadvertently limiting the animated movement from breathing in a more natural way.
Seeing movement while animating enables the drawings to take on however the shapes that it should, in harmony to its committed ‘feel’, directional flow and velocity. This means that many animated drawings when view as single frame might not be very pleasing to look at and appearing abstracted, but it is a necessity to arrive at a fluid movement.
From observation, an animated scene that always maintained perfect form and perspective in every single drawing is comparable to a statue, as it will stay in perfect shape every which way when photograph. But for an organic being, there will be many instances that the form is distorted and odd-looking in single frame instances, (like the odd-looking photographs that we find of ourselves).
In truth, there is no right or wrong in the way we each control an animated drawing and much pending on each creative taste, but it’s good to see motion when animating and acknowledge the drawing in relation to the physical movement texture at 24 fps.
i have no art supplies with me as I am cat sitting for one of the many who have fled the city but i found a pencil in a cranium box and a 50cent notebook so i made this
Quick animation test
Summer Dream animation
music: On a clear day- Joe Hisaishi
This heavily inspired from Ghibli , Shinchan (older version), works of @alariko1
all of this hits me hard with nostalgia and surreal summer vacation vibes and I always wanted to create something like this so here it is
ps its an extended version of a 1 second animation gif
this was the base of whole idea as I wanted to make it feel more alive
ꗃ logging on... loading..... ❀ oak is online !! ❀ ╰┈➤ blinking animation im working on-- its a wip so its not fully polished up
(psst, here’s a preview of what I’ve making before I can get a higher quality video + one where my mom isn't talking)
KLAUS (Dir: Sergio Pablos, 2019)
Just when you think you have seen all the Santa origin stories you care to, along comes Klaus. Netflix’s first original animated feature film, Klaus made its debut on the streaming service in November 2019; an early gift for the festive season. Produced by Sergio Pablos Animation Studios, it is the directorial debut of studio head Pablos, the co-creator of Universal's highly lucrative Despicable Me franchise.
Incompetent postman Jesper (Jason Schwartzman) is sent by his Postmaster General father to establish a post office in the remote northern isle of Smeerensburg. On arrival he finds a divided community, engaged in a bitter feud, who barely speak to each other, let alone send mail. Determined to succeed he seeks out each town member to extol the virtues of the postal service, including Klaus (J K Simmons), a mysterious, solitary figure with a workshop full of toys. The pair team up to distribute the toys to the unhappy Smeerensburg children, creating some new Christmas traditions along the way.
Klaus is as warm and heartfelt as you would expect a Christmas movie to be. Sure, it is sentimental, but never slushy and with genuine pathos in Klaus' backstory. Its distinctive visual style and expressionistic use of colour help make it one of the most visually pleasing animated features in recent years; the 2D animation combines the slickness that audiences would expect of a modern animated feature with a cartoony style reminiscent of the Mid Century Modern stylings of the UPA animation studios.
While Klaus does cover some similar ground to the Rankin/Bass TV favourite Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (Arthur Rankin Jr & Jules Bass, 1970), in all other respects it is easily the most imaginative take on St Nick's early years for sometime.
In a year where cinema release schedules have been dominated by animated sequels, first time director Sergio Pablos has crafted a movie which feels fresh and original, yet reassuringly tradition. It is arguably the most satisfying Christmas movie of the decade and seems destined to become a holiday classic.
Visit my blog jinglebonesmovietime.blogspot.com for 100+ movie reviews! Link below.
New icons from Disney's latest short Paperman!
Ariel pencil test. I had to record the screen because I can't even export the JPEG sequence from the TVPaint demo, and I can't afford a full version. I'm happy with the result, in general.
Very unfinished hand drawn animation of one of my characters rolling his eyes.
Individual Frames:
