Hey Anon, i have this gif if it helps: I always start by thumbnailing ideas in REALLY TINY sizes, usually on post-its or my sketchbook. Once I’ve picked one that I like I continue the sketch in more detail in my sketchbook, (or jump directly to digital like in this case). And please don’t be afraid to use reference, I do it all the time. There’s no point in struggling with small stuff like that. The next step is messy: Lots of going back and forward, changing initial ideas. Until the final sketch ready to be cleaned up. I end up with a horribly long and confusing layer structure that only makes sense to moi ✨ (don’t be like me please) LINEART, boy I’m currently not a fan of clean and crisp lines, so this step goes hand in hand with the sketch. But you do what you like, if you want smooth lines go for it. The coloring step takes a lot of trial and error until I end up finding a combination that works for me, try limiting the colors you use or otherwise it might become too muddy! The last step is just fixing little details or sharpening edges until I’m happy with the final result. And thats it ✌
How TV Cartoons Are Made - A (Mostly) Simplified Guide
When I was in school and wanted to work in animation, there was very little information about how cartoons are actually made. Even my professors at college knew very little about the industry as it is today. I’m sure it would’ve been better to study somewhere in California (like CalArts) to be better informed about this stuff, but I didn’t have that opportunity.
Nowadays, many kids in school have a dream career that they don’t really know much about. There’s a lot of missing bits of information and a lot of straight up lies that get circulated as fact as people try to scramble to put the pieces together on how cartoons for television are actually made.
I’ve been storyboarding for television for a while now, and there still aren’t clear resources for those wanting to get into the industry. I wanted to make the basics available to everyone, so here’s a quick rundown through the TV pipeline. Please note: all studios and productions are different. Even cartoons made within the same studio could have wildly different production guidelines. This is not a concrete explanation of how every cartoon is made; this is simply a generalized look at the “typical” television pipeline.
**DISCLAIMER** All images in this post have been sourced from blogs, twitters, scribd and flickr pages are publicly available, and no internal studio materials have been used that have not been already published publicly online. This post is influenced heavily by my own individual experience, as well as friends’.
With that said, this might be a lengthy read, so let’s go!
I know this is lengthy, but if you’re in art school studying animation, thinking about a career in animation, or just want to learn more about the TV animation industry, this is a MUST READ!!!!
Seriously. A lot of this stuff I had to learn on the job the first few weeks working in the TV animation industry. I really really wish professors taught me this stuff in college. This is invaluable information, folks.
Hello, this may sound silly but i'm currently enrolled to attend Art Center next year but, upon consideration (also the fact i have no money that i've had to push my acceptance by a YEAR) and your own information, i'm thinking of dropping the school altogether and going to a cheaper option (LCAD being a better option in my option) so i was wondering if i'm being rash in this idea? I know ArtCenter has a lot of name recognition, internship, and career help, but is that worth going into dept for?
i get a lot of asks from people who ask me if they should go to art school and my answer is always just “hell no no”, so i think i will make this my master Don’t Go to Art School post.
ok here’s the bottom line: just don’t go to art school. don’t go!! don’t go to any accredited art school!! unless you have a full ride scholarship or close to it, don’t go!! literally every working professional i have met since graduating a year ago has agreed with me. we love to get together and bitch about how art school is a waste of time and money.
an education at art center will cost you about $200,000 in tuition alone. lcad isn’t much better and runs about $120,000. during my time at art center, i had a scholarship and help from my parents and i still owe $30,000 in student loans.
and honestly art center didn’t help me get the job i have today. literally all it did for me was introduce me to talented and friendly people who are willing to extend a hand to help each other out in the field. but making friends shouldn’t have to cost you $200,000 lmaooooooo.
here’s my super simple guide to getting a job in animation:
1. move to L.A. this is non-negotiable. all the studios are here. i’ve had uber drivers that have studio hookups and i’ve been offered jobs just sitting in a cafe in burbank and drawing. just existing in the epicenter of animation is an advantage.
2. welcome to L.A! it’s really hot here but i hope you enjoy it. now that you’re here, let’s not go to art school.
3. here are some much cheaper options:
https://www.facebook.com/WillB.Weston?fref=ts (one of my old teachers from art center teaches a ton of workshops and classes all around town
and if you absolutely insist on going to some kind of 4 year college-like thing, try http://laafa.org/. it is about a quarter of the cost of art center, which is still pretty steep imo, but is just as good.
4. i’m even going to give you a cheat guide on what you should study (all of this you can find online for free btw!! just google it!! damn just try pinterest even!! or buy a book!!), based on what i studied at art center. design, composition, perspective, anatomy, color theory, costume design, light logic, visual storytelling, character design, character acting, storyboarding, prop design, background design, environment painting, style development. there ya go that’s all you need to know.
5. lock yourself in a studio apartment for 4 years and practice all the above everyday.
6. study the work of artists working in the field that you admire. do what they do, then put your own heart into it. make work relevant to the industry today. know what your goal is. like literally, having access to soooo much artwork from working professionals on a daily basis is almost like cheating.
7. http://centerstagegallery.com/csg/csg-sketch-group/ and http://www.thedrawingclub.com/ go here and draw when you have free time. make friends with other artists. join a plein air painting club, or do a workshop, or ask for a mentorship. talk to people in the field!! make friends!!
8. make really good work and put it online. everywhere. share it!! have a website! contact recruiters! contact studios you like and ask them when they have internships open!
9. go to CTN every year and bring your portfolio. sign up for portfolio reviews. bring cards with you. ask the recruiters about internships.
10. congrats u now have a pretty good chance of getting a career in animation and u didn’t spend $200,000 for it.
i may sound bitter and jaded about art school (and maybe i am……..a little…….) but honestly i’m way more excited because after a year of working in the industry and meeting people who either didn’t go to art school or went to shitty no-name schools, i am super passionate about the fact that we live in a day and age where anyone who’s willing to put the work in and discipline themselves can develop the skills to become a professional artist without going to school. art is for everyone!! not just people who can afford school! art is fun! and great! and i want everyone who is passionate about it to succeed and not let the obstacle of $$$$$ stonewall them out of a career they’ll love!
don’t go to art school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is my entry for this month’s #CDChallenge for the #Maoriwarrior theme. I have no idea how I ended up making a chicken for this one. After doing a bunch of explorations of badass Maori warriors (humans), I did a small doodle of a chicken in a corner of a page and went ‘Yeeeeup’. #lifechoices
The process for Suburban Witch. As an aside: thank you guys so much for 50k+ followers! It’s quite a bit more than I was expecting when I made this blog :)
I get asked a lot for tips with coloring black people, so i put together a little tutorial! (and bumps my kofi if you found this helpful)
Some sample pages from Andrew Loomis’s series on how to draw comics, 1939-1961, concerning perspective and composition. (The changes in font and layout stem from the fact the pages come from different prints.)
I tried to collect the most useful pages, but of course I’m limited to only 10 images per post.
This is a follow-up of sorts of the Disney “how to draw comics” handouts I posted earlier, and which can be found HERE.
Anatomy tip weekly! :)
This week I’ve prepared something for people who sometimes are confused how to start drawing. Instead of starting with head, start with torso.
I guess most problems can be solved while designing torso. Every body part needs to follow torso.
Handling Sexual Harassment: A Guide
For many women in animation, it comes as no surprise that there are men like Chris Savino [The Loud House] and Skyler Page [Clarence] in the workplace. Breaking news suggests even executives as high as John Lasseter are not immune. What is perhaps more of a surprise, particularly to young women first entering animation, is how rarely discussed handling such situations effectively and tactfully is.
Few are aware of the rights they are entitled to or who to address for support. This lack of information coupled with the majority fearing being blacklisted for calling attention to sexual harassment in the workplace effectively creates an overwhelming and unrealistic effect of silence.
In this guide, we will outline preliminary techniques for those experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. While many of this may also apply outside the United States, the information is predominantly geared towards our legal system. This guide will be updated with more resources as time permits.
Disclaimer: None of these points are meant to suggest, advocate, endorse, or recommend any particular or appropriate course of legal action. Please consult an attorney if you have a situation you need assistance with.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ONE! Don’t ignore this in your writing!
Useful if this is how you think, though often I don’t see the outline until after the draft is written, because after awhile one just internalize this kind of stuff from all the media one ingests. Point is, use if helpful, ignore if not.
Another suggestion for anyone interested: because one of my weaknesses as a writer is sustaining narrative momentum, I’ve recently started using this mystery novel breakdown as a template, even though mystery/detective isn’t the genre I write in. It’s really useful as a way to keep track of what the story needs at a given moment in terms of balance and character.
Hello genice! Thank you for making the art tutorials, they have helped me tons! But I have a question about light and shadow, the term 'ambient light' pops up all the time but I don't really understand what that is, is it just reflected light or a secondary light source? And where would you put it?
ambient lighting (in 2d/3d art) is the kind of lighting where the light source isn’t super defined! most of the time that causes shadows to be really soft and subtle
(good examples of ambient lighting would be the lighting on an overcast day, or on digital 3d stuff when there’s no accent lighting)
i think it works really well as a base! in my painting processes, i like to get the ambient lighting down first so i can have the structures and forms of the stuff i’m painting before i put in the hard shadows and highlights.
With those “when you want to design a character but you don’t know color theory” posts flying around I thought this would be relevant again.
SLAMs THE REBLOG BUTTON
there’s also Coolors website that gives you randomized palettes!
Don’t forget ColourLovers, either! It’s a social media-esque site where you can browse tons of palettes and share your own.
You can browse the most popular ones or search for certain colors, themes, and even specific hex codes!
When you find one you like, you can download a wallpaper swatch of it and also select the specific colors it uses to look at more palettes that use those same ones.
ColourLovers is my go-to for when I’m having trouble coming up with a color scheme! It’s also been around for over a decade, so there’s plenty to browse through.
Quick tutorial I did for a friend. Basically, sketch > paint > Photoshop Magic > Finish
Tbt of a short tutorial I did for Mouse :)
okay so I’ve seen a lot of artists,including myself, make this common mistake of coloring the palm of a hand(and the sole of a foot) as the same color as the person’s skin tone.
but in fact ,palms and soles are a different color compare to our skin
this is due to the lack of Melanin on them
hope this helps!
a series of composition tips i’d been sharing on twitter!
and since some people had asked, i’ve put up a pdf version of this on gumroad along with a layered psd of one of the example images too
tips would be really appreciated, but it’s up for free!