The problem with trying to make artwork on my computer is that I’m always distracted by innumerable shiny objects also available on my computer. Today I was trying out the new beta of Photoshop CS6. I haven’t discovered any new tools for animation, but I like the interface so far.
This week’s homework assignment is to draw another species. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to go to the zoo or something, but if not there’s always these post-run sketches of off-leash pooches in Central Park. They move a bit too quickly for me to really study them, though.
Getting started on some more animation practice; Mary Rae sees a bug on the table and smashes it. Today I sketched a few thumbnail poses, and also plotted the timing on a stripped-down exposure sheet on the right side of my page. Boring spreadsheets may seem antithetical to spontaneous-looking animation, but it really just serves the necessary purpose of timing your character’s actions; how you choose to excute those actions is what brings the character to life.
The timing for this animation actually comes from Eric Goldberg’s “Character Animation Crash Course.” I’ll make it my own by coming up with interesting breakdowns and overlapping action. So, look for that within the next couple days.
No time to draw something tonight, I’m playing some silly Facebook game.
Well, I guess the Kerkel posts this week were a wake of sorts; my strip’s been eliminated from the competition. On the upside, I’m now free to share the entire run here on the site.
It was an odd contest; the thing I found especially strange is that there is no real feedback or interaction on the Cartoonist Studio site, so I feel like I haven’t really learned much about what constitutes an appealing comic strip. The 11-second animation contest made a lot more sense, and I got some solid constructive criticism from the community. About the only positive thing I can say about this contest is that it motivated me to create a comic strip!
That said, after looking through these, please let me know which one you liked the least, and which one you liked the best. Now that I’ve got the storyline-introducing awkwardness out of the way, I’d really like to continue developing these characters.
