Hi! I also wanna learn animation but I don't feel that my drawings are good enough yet. How does one know at which point of their skill they can start to learn animating?
There’s a huge stigma about animation as a creative field that you have to be ‘good enough’ to start animating.
Sure it might be more aesthetically pleasing to look at if you do know how to draw well, but that doesn’t automatically mean it’ll be a better animation.
Animation isn’t ‘the next phase’ after illustration - it’s an entirely different creative field, with entirely different rules. There’s no prerequisite knowledge needed to be able to animate. The only time being able to draw well matters is if you’re aiming for a realistic style - and even then most people turn to rotoscoping for that.
Just like you don’t need to know how to draw to work on stop-motion animations (e.g. with lego or clay), you don’t need to be able to draw well to start working on animations.
Look at Animator vs. Animation:
It’s entirely done with stick figures. Would you say it’s any less amazing just because the artist chose to animate stick figures? Animator vs. Animation is proof that you don’t need to be able to draw well to be able to animate well.
Another great example of a simple animation style that recycles frames and yet is still super effective and engaging to watch is super ☆ business ☆ dancing ☆ night:
I know a few non-artists that could recreate that style in a pinch, but none of them could make a video like that without knowing how to animate.
The main thing to remember is work with your medium, not against it. Start simple, focus on the storytelling and the personality of your characters, because with animation that’s what matters. Visual appeal is not about how well you can draw, it’s about what you can do with what you’ve got already.
Don’t let the rumours that ‘prestigious’ animation colleges “Only let the best artists in” scare you off. Where you got your degree means jack shit in the industry. You don’t even need a degree to work in the industry as long as you’ve got the skills to actually do the job the employer needs and the portfolio to prove it. As far as business owners are concerned it doesn’t matter where you came from, what matters is what you can do.
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