Construction
Line Of Action
Fluid Poses
Clear silhouettes, using negative shapes
Appeal and cuteness
This is a very serious message from me to you if you ever want to work on real cartoons, not phony-ass flat Nick stuff.You have to teach yourself the principles of good animation drawing, because no school will teach you and I can't afford to train you on the job. I'm starting a new studio soon and need cartoonists, but do the work you need to.
All the most important things you need to know about drawing animation are in these model sheets I lifted from Steve's great Animation Archive.
http://www.animationarchive.org/
Do what I did when I was your age. Copy them all and learn the underlying concepts in these great drawings:
Construction
Line Of Action
Fluid Poses
Clear silhouettes
Appeal and cuteness
You kids have a head start. All this stuff was hard to find when I broke into the industry. Now you can just go to the animation archive and see some of the best cartoon and illustration art in history, and then come here to have me pick out the stuff that is the cream of the crop and the quickest to learn from.
Not every old model sheet is great. These are. I weeded the weaker ones out for you.
Take advantage and stop drawing flat and lifeless! If you can do it, then you can help me save cartoons.
If you have talent, and you copy these things carefully, and then apply the principles to your own drawings, you will learn very fast and you will be able to adapt to any style. Once you work at Nick or Cartoon Network, you can easily dumb down your ability. If you work for me, you will learn even more, but learn the principles on your own.
