Here is series of under paintings executed in acrylic.

Yes, this is the cover of a sketchbook.

Book-1-a.jpg

To give the paint a good surface to grab onto I applies a couple layers of gesso to the area to be painted.

Then I paint the areas with complimentary colors - reds for the trees and leaves and blur for the path, the hut and the character.

Book-2-a.jpg

I add some earth tones to the blue area…

Book-3-a.jpg

Book-4-a.jpg

Next the greens…and I begin to block in the character…

Book-5-a.jpg

Here is the final with added details and the character in color.

Because of the winding path I used several horizon lines.

There you have it!

This week has been dedicated to painting…and some real progress has been made with two paintings finished this week…so far.
With that said, I have been receiving a bunch emails about character design and construction.

With character design one of the most important elements is PLAY.

Ward Kimball once told me he did about 300 designs to get Jimminy Cricket…The character began very much as an insect and worked it’s way to the little dude with the tophat.

Here is a drawing with non descript characters - just playing around with some structure

Here are few fun sketches I found as I was going through some drawings…these are play sketches with no particular purpose in mind except to just play with some character ideas.

Here are a few lady characters

For me this is the most fun part of designing characters….

I had to make up a folder about online lessons and a few minutes later this guy was on my board

These kinds of drawings are usually drawn in sketchbooks while at the local cafe.

Remember to keep it fun and PLAY …do tons of drawings!!!

This recent video is a natural demo for ANTICIPATION…well not really, but it’s a cool trick my son, Matt came up with…

I added some animation and a short video of the individual drawings- just for the heck of it!

Keep in mind, ANTICIPATION accomplishes:

1. An anticipation the audience with you…

2. An anticipation prepares the audience…

3. An anticipation helps build momentum for an action or movement…

Remember: most movements should begin with an anticipation…

For more info go to:

HERE

Under LESSONS there is one titled ANTICIPATION

One of the classes I have taught in recent years is Layout and Character Design.

Sam Chi’s vertical pan

My strategy with the Layout part of the class was to give them the basics in perspective (1,2,3 point, etc.) and then to have the participants go “on location” around historic Savannah and have them just draw. The idea was to let them become comfortable with drawing, research and perspective. The first assignment would be to do 45 thumbnail drawings over the first 2 weeks adding elements along the way. 15 thumbnails each - of an animation flatview, a worm’s eye view and a bird’s eye view. After basic perspective we would talk about composition, line weights, tonal values and focal points. Again the idea was to build artistic fundamentals, confidence and skills.

Along the way, I will put up some Layout lessons - but are just a few finished examples. In some cases I have shown the line drawing with and without tonal work.

These were based on scenarios usually involving the adventures of Pirate mice circa 1775. I’m sure you have heard of the Savannah Cheese Party.

P.Hilliis-1a.jpg

P-Hillis-2a.jpg

stephen-hollis-1.jpg

Reina-Cayetano-3a.jpg

Reina-Cayetano-2a.jpg

Aaron-Kablack-2a.jpg

Aaron-Kablack-1a.jpg

Bee-7a.jpg

Bee-8a.jpg

Dae-Sup-tonal-1.jpg

B-Hodman1.jpg

Many of these folks have gone on to animation and layout careers

There’s a whole lot more where these came from, too….more later…

Okay!

As requested, I drew another character demo. This one is of a screwball character- I call him Wolfie…

I narrated my way through this clip (as requested).

As with the last demo I begin with simple forms and then keep adding and adding and adding.

Here is the finished drawing.

Here is Wolfie

Still Animated!

Hey!
Here is a character demo I did yesterday as a test for some upcoming ingridients for my website…more on that later.

How this works is that I just turned on the camera and went to it - freehand- without a net!!!!

Its important to construct your characters. I began with the feet and worked upward - using simple forms and then added to them- bit by bit. The simple forms are good construction tools because the character has to be able to turn.

This was very good fun…I will have to do more…any suggestions for other characters?

Character Movement:

In the first lesson on center of gravity we showed how when a character is standing still – an imaginary line runs vertically through to the feet. (fig. 1)

Fig-1a.jpg

Because they are standing with their weight equal on their two feet, the character is centered or balanced on those two feet.

When a character moves they will try to stay balanced. If they lift a leg they will shift their weight over the center of gravity to compensate or counter-balance for the movement. Sometimes an arm or leg or both will be used to counter-balance the movement and weight shift. (fig. 2 and 3)

Fif-2a.jpg

Fig-3a.jpg

Unless you want the character to fall then it has to be balanced (as in a stumble or walk or run).

Again, when a character moves it will try to stay balanced. Say the character jumps…

…their center of gravity becomes their path of action (the arc they follow). (fig. 4)

Fig-4a.jpg

Here, the weight of the character is centered on the arc. Obviously, this center point of the character will vary depending on the proportions and weight distribution of the character. (fig. 5)

Fig-5a.jpg

If the character does a somersault or flip…these movements will have their weight centered on the arc (or path of action). If the character is centered some where else …or instance the head then the movement will look unnatural. (fig. 6)

Fig-6a.jpg

Here is another example…a favorite animation exercise of mine…the Tarzan assignment (fig. 7).This exercise involves an anticipation (or antic) and jump, antic and grab, a swing across, a delayed action, a fall and the action/reaction and recovery of the landing.

Each movement follows an arc (or path of action) with the weight centered for natural movement.

TARZAN-plan.jpg

To Review:

1. Center the character’s weight – on balance(except on certain movements where you want the character off balance).

2. When a character shifts weight – they will try to counter-balance themselves with an arm or leg or both to maintain balance.

3. During movement the character’s weight should stay centered along the arc (or path of action).

4. If you don’t center the weight the movement will seem contrived and unnatural.

Okay, I promised a maquette lesson so here it is…

Squash McStretch in maquette form

First, let’s begin with the materials – they include: wire, Super Sculpey (1 package), a plaque (for a base), 2 wood screws (and a screw driver), Propoxy (lead based), rubber cement thinner, Q-tips, light gray acrylic paint (no enamel), aluminum foil and sculpting tools.

Some notes about these materials:

The wire should be pliable and not too thick.

The plaque or base can be found at Wal-Mart, Michael’s or in the craft section of hobby and art stores.

The Propoxy should be used with rubber gloves, It looks like a Tootsie Roll…once mixed you have about 20 minutes until it hardens. Some folks use this product to adhere joints and /or to make pad forms for the hands and feet.

The rubber cement thinner and Q-tips are used to smooth the Sculpey- before it is baked. This is optional! The same smoothness can be had by smoothing using just your fingers.

The aluminum foil is to cover large areas like the chest area to lessen the weight on the character’s legs and feet.

Let’s use this mouse as an example.

The mouse broken down into simple forms

Design your character (6-8 inches in height) in 2D forms on paper - this will help you solve any design problems and offers the added challenge of meeting established proportions.

The first step is to build an armature. Begin with making a “U” shaped feet (for wood screws). Begin with one “U” shaped foot; work up the leg to the hip across to the other hip and down to the other “U” shaped foot. From here you have options, you can cut the wire and go to the middle of the hips and begin the spine…or wrap the wire tightly around leg and work your way to the spine. If you decide to cut the wire – you will have use Propoxy to adhere the wire to the spine.

Here’s a drawing of how an armature might be constructed.

Remember, pay special attention to the proportions. If you have trouble “eyeing” the proportions then use a caliber, or a pencil or paintbrush or even a ruler to measure.

From the middle of the hips work up the spine to the neck, continue upward to create a basic sphere or oval shape for the head and then work the wire back down the neck to where the shoulders will be located - from here you can create a chest cavity or just cut the wire and form the chest cavity and adhere it with Propoxy.

Now you can fashion the arms and the pads for the hands and then use the Propoxy to adhere them.

Cover any of the character’s large areas (could be the head, chest, butt or stomach) with aluminum foil. It will save on the weight and the stress on the character.

Once you have the armature completed – screw the character onto the base. Pose the character in the final position. By working on the base it will keep you from flattening your character,

Now begin applying the Sculpey over the armature and the other forms. As you work with the Sculpey, it will become soft. When this happens, take a break and place your character in the refrigerator for 5 or 10 minutes….and then you can continue sculpting the character.

Some folks like to create the body- bake it, and then place the clothes over top. Others continue “straight” ahead create the body and then the clothes and then bake it. Either way works!

Remember to smooth before you bake! If you use the rubber cement thinner and Q-tips - keep in mind you are essentially melting the Sculpey.

Preheat the oven (check the Sculpey box for details)

Moisten the base with a very damp washcloth- just make sure it won’t crack or split during the baking process.

COVER ALL DELICATE OR THIN AREAS WITH LITTLE TENTS OF ALUMINUM FOIL!!! Areas like the hands, noses, snouts, ears, hair, thin cloth- all need to be covered or they will be burned.

DO NOT USE A MICROWAVE!

Once the character is in the oven, check it from time to time. For best results when the baking is completed, turn the oven off and allow the character to cool in the oven. This step helps avoid the cracking of the ankles in the Sculpey. Sculpey is pliable when warm so if it’s jostled, cracking can occur. Turn off the oven go for a 10 minute walk or watch the news- then remove the cool character from the oven.

There you have it. You can leave the character the natural color, or paint it a light blue or light gray. Since these maquettes are 3D references it makes sense to keep them light so you can see the proportions and details.

a close up of Squash’e BIG nose

Have fun!

Here is my “hit list” of ANIMATION PRINCIPLES

some words of wisdom from yours truly

If you are coming out of school or looking for a job in animation (2D, 3D, Flash, Stop Motion, Vis. EFX)- this is the list of STUFF you need to know.

ANIMATION PRINCIPLES:

WEIGHT AND MASS

TIMING (SLO-OUTS/SLO-INS, SPEED, TEXTURE IN TIMING, TIMING CHARTS)

ANTICIPATION

HOLDS, CUSHIONS (OR SETTLES)

PRIMARY ACTION

SECONDARY ACTION

OVERLAPPING ACTION

COMPENSATIONS AND CHANGE OF DIRECTIONS

WAVE ACTION

LEAD AND FOLLOW ACTION

DRAG ACTION (FORCES vs. FORMS)

SUCCESSIVE BREAKING OF JOINTS

ARCS

DYNAMIC POSING (THUMBNAILS, KEY POSES, KEY FRAMES, EXTREMES)

BALANCE/ COUNTER BALANCE

the emotional sack - a really wonderful posing/acting exercise

CENTER OF GRAVITY

TORQUE

THINKING TIME

APPEAL

STAGING

MOTIVATIONAL FORCES

CHARACTER DESIGN AND STRUCTURE

BI-PED AND QUADRAPED MOVEMENTS

BODY ATTITUDES

FACIAL EXPRESSIONS

SPINE REVERSALS

my atelier on a good day

I was skimming through some images on my computer and I came across this student work. These are representative of the works of some very talented folks from Layout and Character Design classes.

A wonderful example of character constructiuon in 2D from Rei Cayetano

 First with drawing, we would explore very simple basic structure with basic shapes (although we really meant forms – more of a 3D approach) and then build upon these forms. Next, a drawn model sheet was created and from that the participants had to take their characters to 3D in the form of MAQUETTES.

The goal was to see what happened when 2D was translated into 3D.

Many students put a extraordinary amount of effort into their characters. They began with a base, built a wire armature, layered the supper sculpey around and there worked on the details and smoothing - before baking it in their ovens.

Nate’s hero pirate mouse

Lindsey B.’s pirate mouse girl

An aged mouse

A sword slinging rabbit

Some of S. Hollis’ handiwork

This endeavor was an excellent exercise for them since most were headed into 3D CG animation.

At a later time, I will show some layouts and model sheets.

Keep Animated!