Animation Principles Assignment 10

This assignment used drawings from assignment 2 (which I didn't post - that assignment was a simple slo-in/out with a ball). This assignment builds on that one to add anticipation/reaction. The timing is pretty mechanical but I peeked ahead to the next assignment and the first paragraph mentions how to start utilizing anticipation/reaction to its fullest.


(Click image above to view the animation)

Animation Principles Assignment 9

This is basically the pendulum swing in perspective. Brian's book helps you with placing the pendulum arc and the timing. I freehanded the clock from one in the book. Drawing swinging circles in perspective is tricky! At least for me...


(Click image above to view animation)

Playin' In A Puddle

I sent in the assignment for Section 1 to FAS last week for review. I'll post the assignment and FAS comments when I get them back.

Section 2 is working with watercolors and it's split into two sub-sections: working with transparent and opaque material. I've never worked with opaque watercolors and I can't remember the last time I painted with transparent watercolors (and that was with those little inexpensive cakes).

All the FAS material has been very helpful with teaching technique but the one thing that was explained very well was how to create a graded layout. The instructions had you experiment with pushing a puddle of black wash down the page, going from light to dark and vice-versa:



Eventually, I want to experiment with using some watercolor background layouts within Flash. I'll think it will create an interesting contrast within the animation.

Animation Principles Assignment 8

This assignment is called the Overlapping Pendulum. It combines the principles from the pendulum and seaweed assignments.


(Click image above to view animation)

Inkblot

Continuing with the first FAS section, you get to practice with ink, specifically india ink and markers. I've used markers to create trouble in one manner or another my whole life but I've never worked with india ink (and the picture below bears that out!).

For india ink, the FAS instructions suggest practicing with both a watercolor brush and pens. The materials list mentions certain pen tips with Hunt numbers listed. I expected to find a bin of these at my local Michael's but no such luck. So after staring at my limited choices for 20 long minutes, I went with the Speedball drawing kit. I believe that one of the drawings I actually send in to FAS for comments will have me use pen and ink so hopefully my utter lack of pen tip knowledge won't become an issue.

I like working with markers the best but using the pens are addicting - I've never had an hour go by so fast.

Using marker:


Using india ink:

Animation Principles Assignments 5-7

Assignments 1-4 are learning slo-in and out and a ball bounce. They weren't much trouble. But starting with #5, the pendulum, takes real concentration. I'm drawing these frame by frame in Flash so that I can really start to understand how the timing works. I'm pretty embarassed by these but I have to start somewhere.

Interesting, scary thought from Brian's book - he surmises that an average 90 minute feature would take one person about 38 years to animate by hand. His larger point is to remind readers that animation takes a lot of individual drawings to get your idea across.

Assignment 7 - Overlapping Action 2 (Seaweed)
UPDATE: Re-did this one. Even though I'm going to continue doing these assignments in Flash, I'm going to freehand it and first do a rough sketch using the pencil tool and then finish with a brush overlay. It was too much of a pain to push/pull using the pen and line tools. Assignments 5 & 6 use that method but I'm not going to bother changing them.

(Click image to view animation)

Assignment 6 - Overlapping Action 1

(Click image to view animation)

Assignment 5 - Pendulum Swing


(Click image to view animation)

Perfect Timing

Just in time for starting this blog, my FAS package arrived. It was well-packed and I got busy emptying the box. I examined everything carefully and am left with two distinct impressions:

1. The pages are quite large and very high quality. 4-hole punched.
2. They smell like they've been stored in an musty attic since 1969.

Anyway, this blog isn't a critique of FAS, it's about my decision to get serious with art and animation.

The first FAS section is about getting familiar with materials, specifically pencil, charcoal and ink. The first practice was copying an outline of a bird then using different pencils and charcoal and drawing methods to fill in the bird. I'm posting my favorite, a charcoal drawing, not because I think it's any good, but because I had fun smearing the charcoal around and making a mess. I free-handed the outline, that's why the shape isn't very good.

Begin the begin

I'm using this site as a journal and archive for my own reference as I learn animation on my own.

My first plan of action is to become a better overall artist. At this point in my life, regular art school would be too much but I also don't want to simply follow a book on my own. So, I enrolled in the Famous Artists School Career Art course (I learned about this from reading Mark Kennedy's most excellent, educational blog). My hope is that it will give me a balance of quality feedback and comprehensive instruction (ie, more than a single community-ed drawing class) at a affordable cost. I'm a little wary of the correspondence method but their website does a good job of explaining how it works and if it's accurate, it should work out good. They're very up-front about explaining the work involved. Future posts will document my experience for posterity.

While working on the FAS course, I'm also going to start learning animation by following Brian Lemay's Animation Principles book. While his book has you draw the exercises on the paper, I'm adapting it to use with Flash. It's a thorough, step-by-step exercise book and he includes a CD with his version of the completed exercises for comparison.

Beyond this, my plan is to balance actually creating stuff with 'topical' learning (such as acting, filmmaking, etc) and studying movies and other cartoons. Another book I own, Flash Cartoon Animation, takes you step-by-step through completing a short cartoon that I think I'll follow.

If you're happening by this site, any helpful suggestions on the work I upload are most appreciated.