Work from the constructed poses

 Here are 3 poses from a layout scene, drawn in pencil

 scanned very strangely but ignore that

Before inking, (or animating or anything else) it helps to understand the larger forms that are controlling the action.

I make a layer in Toonboom where I race the big forms over the layouts

 This way inkers, animators, inbetweeners can see what is happening without getting lost in the details

 when you turn off the layout layer you can see the construction and animating these simple shapes first is easier than trying to keep track of a million details from frame to frame

You can use the onion skin to see how the shapes relate to each other from pose to pose

Once this is done, you can start to add details and it is a lot easier process.

Last 3

I think I may have an animatic of this scene that Eric Bauza made. I can't remember if Mike Pataki did the voice. He must have...

More Wilderness Adventure Layouts

too tired for a lecture...

More Wilderness Adventure Layouts

The reason to do layouts here (in America or your homeland) is so you can create custom acting.
By "custom" I mean creating original poses and expressions that only fit the particular scene and story you are working on.
If you are just gonna use stock prefab model sheet poses and expressions, then there really is no reason to do layouts in the country. You might as well just send the script directly overseas. It's a lot cheaper and all that matters is what the characters say anyway, right? Not how they say it or how they think?
This is not exactly what layout was created for. It's really the animator's job to create the acting, but since animation is all done overseas (or in flash) this is the best solution I could come up with to at least have some directorial control over the performances in the stories.
It's a bandaid created for TV production. However, TV practices and philosophy have largely been adopted by many full animators too. Meaning that most animators these days are expected to not really vary much from the model sheets or even the limited house styles that exist today. I see characters in every major studio making the same expressions and moving the same way they have moved for 25 years. Maybe some move smoother or have more overlap, but the acting seems to be out of the can.
I've found that even really good animators have trouble adapting to different styles and especially breaking out of stock expressions, actions and poses. Too many artists do things the way "it's supposed to be done".
So layout is also a way for me aid the animators in getting the customized acting I like.
Chuck Jones used to do a lot of his own poses even back when he had great full animators at WB. I think he said not all them could draw well and needed detailed poses from the director.
The ideal to me would be to have animators who not only can move things smoothly, but who also have their own individual styles - and an ability to break from formula - to be able to think on their feet. To be able to feel the emotions of scene and have the chops to translate those feelings into distinct and confident drawings and animation.

FORMULA THINKING VS FEELING

Instead of approaching a scene with thoughts like "Let's see, how is 'happy' supposed to look?" or "How many frames does an anticipation and overshoot take?" Or "How much overlapping action can I squeeze into the scene?" "How can I get some 'tude into the pose?" I much prefer artists who understand the characters and story and the specific scenes they are working on. Then they naturally from the depths of their loins custom craft all the drawings and timing to milk the maximum impact and surprises out of the context of the story.

That's one of the things I love about Clampett. He encourages his animators to customize everything rather than just repeat actions they have already done a million times. That's true creativity as opposed to being merely smooth and professional.

More poses? You'll probably have to put up with another lecture; sorry about that.

Storyboard To Layout

Here are a handful of storyboard panels from "Wilderness Adventure", one of the firs Ren and Stimpy stories written. The cartoon was rejected 3 times in a row by hippie ladies who hate Republican men.


people ask me sometimes what the difference is between storyboards and layouts. These few storyboard panels turned into 34 layout poses.

Here are the first few.

Layouts are where I tighten up the poses and break down all the acting.
You can't do this with the current system of drawing tight tiny storyboards and sending them overseas to animate without layouts.

Let me know if you'd like me to upload the rest of the layouts.

Owen Fitzgerald Camera Angles

Owen Fitzgerald can stage scenes from any angle and make it look easy.
In this Dennis story about the family playing pool, every shot is a new angle.
Drawing poses of someone playing pool would be tricky enough even left to right, but Owen does it from every possible perspective, seemingly without effort.
And he still manages to make the posing look natural and balanced.
I wonder if the reason Owen Fitzgerald is not better known is that his work does look so effortless. It's incredibly subtle and sophisticated drawing - especially for cartoons - but you almost don't notice just because he makes it look simple.
Lesser artists are much more heralded and imitated than Fitzgerald - like the Archie artists who mostly draw everything left to right and can only draw wooden profiles, front views and 3/ views.
It's even more remarkable that he can solve all these difficult drawing problems- and do it in another person's style.
This is the kind of guy you would want heading your layout department.