I’ve finally received my Pencil Check Pro application license so I can now render and posts the animations I’m working on.  Here’s my first real lesson.

Grim Natwick, the creator of Betty Boop, who animated 83 scenes on Snow White once said, “Animation, it’s all in the timing and the spacing.”  I’ve struggled with applying both concepts, but the light bulb went off last night and I think I’m finally beginning to truly understand both concepts.

Animation legend, Richard Williams, says, “The bouncing ball says it all.”  This is very true.  Everything learned from a simple ball animation can be applied to the complex stuff.  So, here’s the first of several, if not many ball animations.

 

Milt Kahl, legendary Disney animator on such films as Cinderella, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, and The Jungle Book once said, “I don’t think it’s possible to be a top notch animator without being an excellent draftsman.  You have to try for the whole thing, you know, got to know the figure.  You need that figure-drawing background in order to sharpen.  Every animator should have this background.”  When giving advice to a young animator hopeful, legendary Disney story artist, Richard Kelsey said, “First of all, kid, learn to draw.  You can always do the animation stuff later.”

This is a simple explanation for why I’ll be posting so many “life drawings.”  These two men were speaking from their own animation backgrounds of traditional hand-drawn animation, but I believe it is still an essential skill for any type of animator to learn.

Plus, I see the animation landscape shifting and believe hand-drawn animation will be “re-discovered” again.  There is so much beauty and appeal (charisma) to hand-drawn animation that computer generated animation (CG) and Flash animation cannot recreate.  I’ll save that discussion for my other site, Drawings in Motion, which you can link to from this blog.  Drawings in Motion will focus on hand-drawn animation past and present.

For now, please enjoy a few 15 minute life drawings from my sketchbook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi everyone,

I’ve made the transition from Blogspot to WordPress for one simple reason, I want everyone to be able to comment without having to sign up to be a member.

Another change is the scope of this blog.  I will now include not only my Animation Mentor progress, I am now including everything I do as an animator from my sketchbooks, freelance work, and personal animation studies.

And one other bit of news to mention, I’ve started one other blog solely devoted to the works of professional animators that inspire me and from which I’m learning personally from.  It is aptly titled, “Drawings in Motion.”  You can link directly to it from this site of course.

Thanks for spending a few minutes of your day to read what’s going on in my world.