Warming up and bringing out the old.

So after a day of foodpoisoning ( I’ll spare you the details ) I have made a recovery. Time to get all my things together and go animate!…Or so I tought. I haven’t been keeping up with my drawing lately wich of course translates itself to crappy poses. So I’ve thrown myself on to some finger practice and some fast sketching. I always wonder how much time an animator spends on a drawing. If you see Glenn Keane ( or any other studio animator ) draw a pose for an animation you would think they could have made “The Lion King” or ” Tarzan ” in a year or so. It’s very inspiring to see them draw, but also a bit intimidating. Is it talent only? Or does practice have a great part in it?

Okay, I can hear you say:” You should stop whining and start drawing! “. But what if I am? It’s true, I haven’t had that much figure drawing and I really suck at drawing poses. But I’m working on it! I take evening courses now. It’s a lot of fun, but they seem to emphasise the artistic a bit to much. In other words, they look down on animation, storyboarding, visual storytelling in general. I don’t care. Animation IS art, it’s a craft for wich you have to study all your life long. Same goes for anything in the biz. We ARE artists and I curse those arty-farty types who claim otherwise! I think we reach more people in doing what we do ( who doesn’t know Tex Avery, Walt Disney Classics, etc… ) then they do flogging of their paintings at their weekly garage sale. I respect them for doing it, but they have to respect us too. It works both ways.

So far my ranting. I threw myself on some quick sketches yesterday. I wanted to get some dynamics into the poses ( HUGE weak point of mine ) as well as get a good silhouette. I did better then before, but I’m still nowhere. Progress is a harsh mistress. With a whip. And a leather suit.

I’ll try and post some things from my figure drawing class tonight. Doesn’t always have to be peeing monkeys to make you laugh.