I drew some Woody Woodpecker, too from this model sheet (from Cartoons, Model Sheets & Stuff)
I think I might have found a way to have the Copy from Cartoon Model Sheets thing work for me. Before, I was like "I'm copying them but am I actually learning anything?" and then I had the idea: "Well, the model sheets tell you how to draw the characters, why not just try to draw a few on your own?" Why not, indeed!
I'll try to draw a few more later on.
(also from ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive)
Yeah, I lost my blue pencil and had to redraw some parts with a red Col-Erase. I dunno. It looks pretty distinct.
Wow, these are surprisingly solid! I myself am still stuck in my rubberhose phase. I have been spending time picking up lots of misc. tips on animation, but it'll take a while to track all of them. I will help you, i assure you.
ReplyDeleteI seem to be working in a different way from you. I'm focusing on just moving rubberhose right now, since i still need time to learn solid drawing. The Blair book is a bit too much for me right now (i normally drew straight ahead up till recent times) so i'm focusing on just drawing basic rubberhose and pears and spheres.
As for animating, here are some tips i can give
1. Always time to a beat when walking (i.e. 12x step, 14x step, 8x step). Download the free program "Tempoperfect". Ask me about timing later, and i'll tell you about more in depth.
2. Contrasts are very imporant in movement, and especially in animation. Not every movement should be the same uniform speed. It's not all about being oil smooth, unless you wanna be the next Richard Williams, it's about conveying what you want your audience to feel about the story and characters. Everything motion is either accelerating or decelerating. Avoid even, mechanical spacing, or your drawings will float. Avoid cycles, as they are mechanical.
P.S. Here is a suggestion for you: try studying some Bill Tytla scenes from Snow White. Hans Perk's A Film L.A. blog has an animator draft for Snow White, so you can I.D. which scenes Tytla handled. Tytla to me is Disney's greatest animator. In fact, Micheal Sporn's Splog has pencil tests of some of his Stromboli and Grumpy scenes--great to study construction and motion from. Just throw out the stock expressions and caricature the designs once you understand them, unless you wanna be another Cal Arts zombie :).
I also have a challenge for you--take the original 1934 Donald Duck design and do a 40's, West Coast organic approach to it. The original design has lots of unique contrasts in it's shapes and design. The redesign is evened out and has no contrasts, appealing as it is.
Thats all i can say for now, but i'm sure theres more where that came from! See ya soon!
FYI, I'll be putting this reply in an email in case you don't get it :)
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! I've been working off and on on Preston Blair for about two years. I had been working from the scans of his older animation book and then I stopped until I got my own copy for Christmas (or my birthday. I forget.)
Sometimes I forget how much I've learned or how bad my first attempts where. My approach was just kind of to draw by eye. Recently I was looking through my old drawings from middle school and high school and man, its like night and day compared to the stuff I draw now. Also my drawings where much smaller back then. Weird.
I don't have a problem with doing the Preston Blair thing, I only worry that somewhere along the line, I will have drawn everything from the book and be like "Well, now what?". I seem to work better with something I'm just learning with at least some kind of instruction or a goal to work toward.
I sort of understand what you mean to the '40's West Coast organic approach' (Warner Brothers?) but I'm finding drawing Donald's beak really hard so maybe I'll go back over them some other time. I might do more Mickey's or some Top Cat's in the meantime, though. :)