Animation Principal: Solid Drawing

As an animator journeys through the process of of developing their artistic skill set, we come almost immediately to the need for strong drawing skills. Animation would not be what it is today without strong Drawing, and given the chance, I could even make a case that the world as we know it would not exist today without strong drawing, as Artists are the unacknowledged architects of our reality, and all things made by man spring from the creative artistic mind. Alas, that is another matter to be discussed over scotch and cigars, so we will stick to drawing as it applies to a foundation of animation.

Drawing is where we translate the idea into something physical that we can share with others. A picture is worth a thousand words. Because drawing is so fundamental to the animation industry, any animator will strongly benefit from being able to draw well. This does not mean that all animators working out there can draw, but being able to draw will only help.

Because drawing requires problem solving, it is a good place to start building your skill set, as you will face countless problems that you must solve as an animator. Here are some videos that I have found helpful. First is some material from one of my favorite designer/ instructors Feng Zhu. This Video is full of information about design and how to work up your own ideas and stimulate your brain to produce better drawings.



Here is part two of this series. Mr. Zhu talks a lot about the fundamentals but leaves it up to you to learn the basics on your own. In my mind, the first place to start is getting loose and working on shape, next would be line weight, and then a serious study on perspective, one point, two point, and three point. A strong grasp of perspective will elevate your drawing to high levels.




So after watching Feng Zhu and listening to him it should be pretty clear as an animator how important drawing is to the production process. The rigs and props you animate start out as drawings. Being able to draw within this medium will help you to communicate with others in your department, as well as those outside of your division in other parts of the pipeline.

Next is some rendering work from industrial designer Spencer Nugent. There is some really strong information here about materials and how light works on objects.

 

Now finally we have the work of Scott Robertson who will give you a solid idea about how to render your own designs. Scott is very technical and I highly recommend going through Scott's channel on Youtube.




And Finally, here is an example of my work. As always, my hope is that those who view this post can walk away with something they can use. Thanks and best of luck, Cheers.