After looking at what I’d done yesterday, I scratched my head and wondered why I dove right into animating, when I’ve read about a dozen books in the past year which all explain that 90% of it is prep work. So, I’m going to redo the old man, the correct way, and explain the process as I go. Since I have a pesky day job, this may take a few days.

This video is a quick look at the beginning stages.

Almost embarassed to post this, but hey, it’s what I worked on tonight. It shows that one of my animation weaknesses is what’s known as “staying on model,” which means your characters maintain a consistent look and volume across your entire animation. I actually thought of redoing this one before posting, but I think I’ll just move on and try again tomorrow.

I have no idea what this guy who looks vaguely like me is so flummoxed about, but I’ve looped it 3 times so you can get a good look at him. This “take” is based off an example on page 286 of The Animator’s Survival Kit.

Today I did a very dangerous thing; tried out a Cintiq tablet at B&H. What’s another $1000 for a hobby? No, I haven’t bought it yet. But as I struggled with wobbly lines on my old Intuos2 tonight, it got even more tempting. Maybe that’s what the “yipe!” is about!

I promise I’ve had a creative day, but I don’t really have much art to show for it. So here’s a quick sketch of my cousin turning my neice upside down.

Yeah, I was watching Prohibition tonight.

Drawn in Photoshop and Illustrator.