For the Kids in 226

A collection of various cool animation stuff.

[worthikids]

I’LL TAKE A HAMMER AND FIX THE BABY

[rainystudios]

I signed on Twitter to post some art but got hit with this news instead. Sharing as a reminder to all of you (and myself) to please take care of yourself. Get enough sleep, eat well, etc. It can be really hard to do at times when our work culture guilts and punishes us for resting while at the same time giving us inhumane work loads. But please be mindful of it. Take care of your physical and mental wellbeing first and foremost.

[foervraengd]

Every artist who sees this post should do the following:

- Watch the video.

- Follow the instructions

- Reblog

I can’t stress you enough about how important these exercises are for your drawing hand. You don’t wanna get CTS of Tendonitis and similar stuff that will prevent you from making art or even hold  a pencil.

[flatbear]

Okay, this guy is my fucking HERO. I just did these exercises as I watched the video, and already my arms and hands feel better. I have a degenerative tendon disease that prevents my muscles, tendons and ligaments from retaining their elasticity, and so anything that maintains the health of my bendy parts is important.

I URGE YOU. Even if you don’t draw, do these several times a day. Even just sitting at a computer can do serious damage. My dad, who was a rugby player, a carpenter, and now a handyman, suffered from severe carpal tunnel syndrome, simply as a result of sitting at the computer at the end of the day to play a little solitaire. Don’t let it happen to you!

[anatomicalart]

I can’t stress enough the importance of stretching your hands, and forearms every morning and every evening, spend 5-10 minutes going through a stretching routine. These are very easy to do, takes little time to do them. It’s VERY common in all animation studios. Conditions can slowly develop, the most typical one is Repetitive Strain Injury, it’s a prevalent condition resulting from overusing the hands to perform a repetitive task, such as typing, clicking a mouse, writing, and of course drawing. In simple medical terms, repetitive strain injury (RSI) stems from prolonged repetitive, forceful, or awkward hand movements. The result is minor damage to muscles, tendons, and nerves of the neck, shoulder, forearm, and most commonly hand and wrist, which can cause pain, weakness, or numbness. If you’re feeling some pains, tingles, weakness, or numbness in the wrist/forearm; one of the best ways to heal quickly are ‘Contrasting Baths’. What crazy voodoo am I speaking of? A couple different physiotherapists and massage therapists had recommended this technique to me several years ago, and for anyone I knew that tried it, they all say the results are fast and effective. Commonly used by carpal tunnel suffers, it’s a method of treating muscle soreness, swelling and inflammation, it’s also known as Hot/Cold Immersion Therapy. You can use the double sink in your kitchen at home, if you don’t have one, then get your hands on two very large identical bowls, it needs to be big enough to submerge your entire forearms from wrist to elbow. Fill one up with ice cold water (with a couple dozen ice cubes floating in there). The other with very warm water, not tea-kettle boiling hot water, just hot tap water, or as warm as you can handle, no sense in burning yourself of course. Have a stop watch or clock ready, and submerge your arms for 30 seconds in the hot, then switch to doing 30 sec. in the cold, and repeat a few times back and forth, 30 sec. a piece. After only a few times you’ll notice the hot water getting cooler and the cold water getting warmer, so then the technique grows to be less effective, but by then, the job is done. The idea is that the extreme heat and cold contracts and expands your blood vessels, promoting greater blood flow to circulate and flush through your arms, and increased blood flow is what aids in healing faster! Enjoy!

[Source]

For artists and animators. Take care of your body and your body will take care of you.

The PDF version of this can be found [Here]. Stick it up in your work station. Keep yourself healthy.

[giancarlovolpe]

Also, just because they have free donut Fridays doesn’t mean you should eat five of them. Like I do.

PLEASE DO THESE I hurt my wrist earlier this year from repetitive strain and had to take nearly a month off of drawing ANYTHING. It’s taken the rest of the year just to get back to a point where I don’t have consistent pains.  Stretches are a great way to keep yourself loose! This is also a wonderful video with some good stretches.  And this book has some great techniques  Also do yourself some favors and, if you’re not already, start drawing with your whole arm, not just your wrist. I know graphics tablets can be kind of small but the benefits to drawing with your arm instead of your wrist are totally worth it. Plus you have greater control over larger strokes. If you need some help you can put your arm in a wrist brace and try to draw on paper a bit with it, just to get used to the feeling of not using your wrist for everything. 

[chaseroberts]

Happy 100th Birthday, Don Lusk!!! Don Lusk is an animator that worked for Disney for many years—best known for his work on the “Arabian Fish Dance” in The Nutcracker Suite in Fantasia, Cleo the goldfish in Pinocchio, The title character in Alice in Wonderland, and worked on multiple segments in Melody Time (inc Johnny Appleseed), later worked on Wendy in Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians.

He’s one of the fewer artists of the Golden Age of Animation, who is still with us.

Donald R. Lusk was born on 28th October 1913, in the Los Angeles Country by his parents Percival “Percy” Knox Lusk (1881-1918) and Louise O. Ross (Parish) (1888-1948).

In 1933, he first came to the Walt Disney Studios as an in-betweener - and then later became an assistant animator to become the assistant to Eric Larson, Milt Kahl and James Algar on the animals in Snow White along with Jack Bradbury and Ken Hultgren cleaning up the animator’s drawings, according to Jack Bradbury.

Don and Jack Bradbury did some animation tests to become an animator - and eventually showed it to Ham Luske, and Don Lusk was promoted to animator in about 1938.

One of Don’s first assignments was animating a few scenes on the Academy Award winning short Ferdinand the Bull and animated some of the scenes with Ferdinand at the arena and smelling the Matador’s flowers until he goes mad!

Don went on to become busy animating Cleo the goldfish in Pinocchio as well as animating the pesky boys in Pleasure Island and some of the fish creatures under water.

Perhaps, Don Lusk’s most well-known work comes from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite segment in Fantasia—the section is the Arabian fish dance.

According to an article on Vanity Fair about Disney Ink & Painters, Don Lusk mentioned about his work that the Ink and Painters put a practical joke on him “They put a fish underneath my board-it had a horrible smell”!

Such a beautiful, glossy effect and Don Lusk successfully achieved it!

Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston mentioned in their book “The Illusion of Life”: The scenes of the glowing white fish in the Arabian Dance section of “Nutcracker” Suite” amazed the whole Studio. No one had ever seen such a gossamer effect and very few knew how it had been achieved.” They also added “The stack of drawings was far more than one man to could carry—the scene was over 100 feet long-and it looked like a small mountain, for it included not only separate drawings for the fish but for all of the sparkles, the effects, the shading on the tails and the fins. Each level added another group of drawings. In fact, the scene had been so unusually large that the animator, Don Lusk, and his assistants had been the subject of several gag drawings showing them dwarfed by the scene of buried under layers of paper. The action everntually was broken into three scenes, which made it easier to carry, but it still took just long to shoot.”

Don Lusk left Disney in 1942 (probably to join the military - unknown??), but returned to Disney Burbank in 1945 and went on to work on Melody Time, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians. In 1946, he married a Marjorie G. who’d become “Marjorie G. Lusk”. The couple are not known to have had any children.

After 101 Dalmatians, he left Disney and worked on the UPA film Gay Purr-ee as an animator. He later worked for Hanna-Barbera where he had a new career and he was directing new series for Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs, The Smorks and The Tom and Jerry Kids Show.

Don retired in 1990 after a 57 year in animation - and he is still alive and currently living in the Los Angeles County with his wife.

[animation-appreciation-education]

He is now 103!

[thibaultleclercq]

Character animation and compositing I did for the Annecy Opening Short.

film : https://vimeo.com/169694298

[wannabeanimator]

Hey I'm just starting out in the world of animation and I'm trying to find a sense of direction as to where to start! I want to pursue a career in animation and am ready to start wherever I can as a freshman in college. Would you have any helpful tips or advice?

Hi! Check out my art school list if you’re looking into colleges; my library if you’re looking for helpful books (specifically for animation, I highly recommend: Frank & Ollie’s Illusion of Life, Richard Williams’ Animator’s Survival Kit, and Eric Goldberg’s Character Animation Crash Course); my FAQ for general advice and my goodies tags (check the Browse by Tags page for a full list of tags) for tips and tricks; and last but not least my resources page for lots of links.

From my FAQ: I want to be a(n) _____. What should I do to get there?

Read books on it. Follow professionals in the industry who are doing that; what does their work look like and how can you get to that level? Check my tags for tutorials and references. Study the history of that profession and the artists in the past and present who did that for a living.

And I would add for you, as someone who is just starting, focus on learning your fundamentals first. You don’t need to worry about trying to master animation right out of the gate. Build a good base by teaching yourself basic principles and anatomy first. And practice what you learn! Apply it!

I hope this helps you & good luck!

[tetsuruo]

[rubberninja]

More progress on my combat animation practice. Going to keep adding to this just for fun, I don’t have a purpose for this.

[s0ffia]

websites:

Animation World Network

Animation Backgrounds

Animation Magazine

Animation & CGI

Animator Island

Anime News Network

Cartoon Brew

Character Design References

On Animation

Reference! Reference! (free database for animation)

11 Second Club (monthly character animation competition)

tumblr blogs:

animationart

animationforce

animationtidbits

aspiretoanimate

calartscharacteranimation

disney-moments-sketches (Allen Ostergar’s blog, animator at Walt Disney)

drawingforsuckas

fuckyeahconceptart

storyboardresources

theanimationarchive

theartofanimation

wannabeanimator

resources/tips:

Animation schools: 1 / 2 (Top 50 USA) / 3 (Top 100 international)

Which animation school is right for you? (Ringling vs. CalArts)

Don’t want to/ can’t afford art school? you’ve got other options.

Animation Mentor: The online animation school

Art school exercises!!

51 Great Animation exercises

20 things you can expect as a traditional (2D) animation student that they never tell you

A Survivor’s Guide to Life Inside an Animation Studio

Animation basics: The art of timing and spacing

Animation Notes From Ollie Johnston

Animated chart of the basic principles of animation

10 Second tip: Always Anticipate

book: Animation: Learn How to Draw Animated Cartoons by Preston Blair

book: A System for Planning and Timing Animation by Glen Keane

book: Timing for animation by Harold Whitaker and John Halas

book: Gesture Drawing for animation by Walt Stanchfield

Basic 3D Animation Terminology

Digital pencil test!!

Keys to Emotion in Animation

Lessons from Disney’s Zootopia

Model Sheets central

The importance of Acting in Animation by Segio Pablos

Printable exposure/dope sheet

Phoneme Chart

Recommended reading for animation students and enthusiasts

The 5 Types of Animation

The Know-How of Cartooning 

The Unofficial Truth about The Animation Industry

Why Disney Sends Its Animators To Life Drawing Classes

Walk/Run Cycles reference

What is Pixar looking for in Animators? (scroll down)

Portfolio Advice for The Disney Animation Internship

What is Rigging?

3D Rigging Terminology

3D Modeling Terminology

tutorials:

Animation for Beginners: Where do I start

Animation Physics (Video tutorials on physics for animation artists)

Animation tutorial part. 1 AKA “the secret of animation”

Appealing Poses in Animation

Background & Movement in TV

Blinking tips

Breakdown tutorial (middle frame between to keys)

Drawing & Composition for visual storytelling

Drawing for Animation

Drawing a Likeness

Animation fundamentals + tutorials

Filmmaking: Composition and Framing

Getting Shape Change

How to animate using photoshop

How to animate Characters in Perspective

How to Animate Head Turns

How to Draw Gesture

OpeenToonz tutorials masterpost

Overlapping Action and Drag

Portfolio tips / Making A Successful Portfolio

Lyp Sync tutorial

Line of action

Basics of good cartooning 1-12 by Sherm Cohen

Squash & Stretch tutorial

Squash and Stretch 2

Storyboarding tutorials by Sherm Cohen

The Illusion of Life: 12 Principles of Animation

Tilt, Flow & Rhythm

Underlying Structure When Animating Expressions

TVPaint tutorial: Uploading and Coloring Scanned Animation

supplies (traditional animation):

10 Essential Art Supplies for the Traditional Animator

How to Use a Light Table for Animation

Making a Simple Animation Lightbox

Peg bars, Animation Disk & Desk

softwares:

free

Blender (3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline: modeling, rigging, animation,etc)

Emofuri (animate using .psd files)

Google Sketchup (

Live2D ( animation/drawing software

OpenToonz (Studio Ghibli’s open source animation software)

Pencil2D (create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics)

Renderman (Pixar’s free 3D rendering software)

Sculptris (Free digital sculpting tool by the makers of Zbrush

SculptGL (Online modelling program)

Synfig (2d animation using a vector and bitmap artwork)

paid

Zbrush (digital sculpting sw by Pixologic)

Mudbox (digital sculpting sw by Autodesk)

Cinema 4D (digital sculpting sw by Maxon)

TVPaint  (2d animation)

animation studios:

Aardman (Bristol, UK)

Blue Sky Studios (Greenwich, USA)

Dreamworks (Glendale, USA)

Fox Animation (USA)

Imagination Studios/CN (Burbank, USA)

Industrial Light & Magic (San Francisco, USA)

Laika (Hillsboro, USA)

Luma Pictures (USA / Melbourne, Australia)

Nickelodeon Animation (Burbank, USA)

Pixar (Emeryville, CA)

Rise FX (Berlin, Germany)

Studio Ghibli (Tokyo, Japan)

Sony Picture Imageworks (Vancouver, Canada)

Sony Pictures Animation (Culver City, CA)

Walt Disney Animation (Burbank, CA)

Weta Digital (Wellington, New Zealand)

inspiration: worth watching short films

Coda by and maps and plans

Contre Temps by the Contre Temps Team

Duet by Glen Keane

DOG ENVY by Olivia Huynh

Fallin Floyd by  il Luster

French Roast

Gravity by Ailin Liu

In Between by Gobelins

Jinxy Jenkins and Lucky Lou by Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon

My Big Brother by Jason Rayner

Night Light by Qing Han

Nephtali by Glen Keane

Nocturne by Kari Casady

Historia de un Oso by Gabriel Osorio

Home Sweet Home  by home sweet home the film

One Bright Dot by  Clément Morin

Stickboy by Giant Ant

SOAR by Alyce Tzue

Tsunami by The Animation Workshop

Thought of You by Ryan Woodward

Vagabond by  The Animation Workshop

5 Gobelins Shorts That Pay Tribute To Women Animation Pioneers

[robpilled]

Here’s my one week film for film workshop class B^)

pls enjoy

[bighonkinqueeniesbadbadbackstory]

I hope you blew the professor away

[anatoref]

(A Study in Rain) The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭 Kotonoha no Niwa) is a 2013 Japanese anime film produced by CoMix Wave Films and directed by Makoto Shinkai.

[wannabeanimator]

The Cinematography of The Incredibles Part 1 & Part 2

Shot Analysis

I READ THIS THE OTHER DAY this is required reading for every layout artist/storyboarder seriously

[dinolich]

Reblogging so I can read these later.

[jaxs-animation-ref-blog]

Cuphead is an indie boss rush game made with hand-drawn 2D animation in the style of 30s cartoons, with an original jazz score.

[superheroesincolor]

Creator spotlight: Floyd E. Norman

Floyd Norman (born June 22, 1935) is an American animator, writer, and comic book artist. Over the course of his career, Norman has worked for a number of animation companies, among them Walt Disney Animation Studios, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears, Film Roman and Pixar.

Norman had his start as an assistant to Katy Keene comic book artist Bill Woggon, who lived in the Santa Barbara, California area Norman grew up in. In 1956, Norman was employed as an inbetweener on Sleeping Beauty (released in 1959) at Walt Disney Productions, becoming the first African-American artist to remain at the studio on a long-term basis. 

Following his work on Sleeping Beauty, Norman was drafted, and returned to the studio after his service in 1960 to work on One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) and The Sword in the Stone (1963). After Walt Disney saw some of the inter-office sketches Norman made to entertain his co-workers, he was reassigned to the story department, where he worked with Larry Clemons on the story for The Jungle Book. 

After Walt Disney’s death in 1966, Floyd Norman left the Disney studio to co-found Vignette Films, Inc. with business partner animator/director Leo Sullivan. Vignette Films, Inc. produced six animated films and was one of the first companies to produce films on the subject of black history.  

Norman and Sullivan worked together on various projects, including segments for Sesame Street and the original Hey, Hey, Hey, It’s Fat Albert television special conceived by Bill Cosby, which aired in 1969 on NBC.In 1972, a different Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids Saturday morning cartoon series was produced for CBS by Filmation Associates). In 1999, Norman and Sullivan created a multicultural internet site, afrokids.com, designed to present a variety of African-American images to children.

Norman was a recipient of the Winsor McCay Award for Recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation at the 2002 Annie Awards. Norman was named a Disney Legend in 2007. 

In 2008, he appeared as Guest of Honor at Anthrocon 2008 and at Comic-Con International, where he was given an Inkpot Award. In 2013 Norman was honored with the “Sergio Award” from The Comic Art Professional Society (CAPS). (X)

Websites: afrokids.com / blog / twitter

[ Follow SuperheroesInColor on facebook / instagram / twitter / tumblr ]

[jaxs-animation-ref-blog]

A clip from The Adventures of Prince Achmed by Lotte Reiniger, the oldest surviving animated feature length film (full run-time: 65 minutes). Originally released in her native Germany in 1926, when Reiniger was age 26. Disney's Snow White wasn't released until 1937. It was made using carefully cut pieces of paper, making it essentially a flat stop-motion film.

[jaxs-animation-ref-blog]

Blog Rec List

@wannabeanimator: Tutorials, animation news, and animation history

@giancarlovolpe: Professional storyboard artist, worked on Avatar the Last Airbender (2d) and Green Lantern: The Animated Series (3d)

@grizandnorm: Storyboard and general art tips and tutorials

@laurenzuke: Professional storyboard artist, currently working on Steven Universe (2d)

@animationsmears: Examples of smear frames in various animated works

@disneyconceptsandstuff: Concept art from various Disney works

http://andreasdeja.blogspot.com: Blog of Andreas Deja, Disney character animator, 2d.

As I find more interesting blogs/links, I’ll add them to the list.

[jaxs-animation-ref-blog]

@pokescans: Has scans of production art from the show and the games.