blog
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46. delete your art
2023-11-22 19:30:59 UTC
You take a pencil and draw a person, looks pretty good! Now you have two options
Being precious means tweaking details, making everything polished and perfect.
Delete your art is the opposite - it means killing your darlings to see what else you can make. Maybe you cut the drawing…
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45. weight moves around
2023-11-22 02:54:59 UTC
This animator Aaron Blaise demonstrates how he thinks of weight in motion. He starts animating by getting the action right.
He draws loose but clear, he thinks about shapes, not lines.
“I wanna open up the silhouette.” good advice
“I can shoot video and animate over it.”
WOAH! I can…
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44. Animated albums are so hot right now
2023-11-21 00:29:00 UTC
Apple Music is pressuring labels and musicians to adopt Apple Motion Album Covers, taking inspiration from Spotify’s Canvas feature, and similar for Tidal and Google Play. The reasons are clear from Spotify’s statistics
When listeners see a Canvas, they are more likely to keep streaming (+5%
on average vs. control…
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43. a walk cycle passes the momentum along
2023-11-15 20:59:37 UTC
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The more I do walk cycles, the more I see how feet work. They are actually passing the floor from one to the other!
Same as a climber who grabs a rock and pulls it down.
Now I’m trying to learn how to do walk cycles in 3d, like walking…
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42. make ur story super relatable
2023-11-15 20:42:28 UTC
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41. make bigger pictures!
2023-11-12 06:11:36 UTC
Just went to TAIS Film Fest (Toronto Animated Image Society)
It was so GREAT. and inspiring and omg affordable.
the main things I learned are:
1. I found my people as an indie filmmaker and experimental animator!
2. Making a film for screen involves embracing a bigger canvas. STORY and…
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40. a breakdown pose is the secret sauce
2023-11-11 06:32:24 UTC
Breakdown pose
Draw your extreme poses first. then draw a breakdown pose. use these three poses to block out timing. then fill in the gaps.
But HOW do we make the breakdown frame look natural and dynamic? This post
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39. smears are magic!
2023-11-07 10:37:56 UTC
a smear, that cartoony frame where a characters eyes are smeared. they work wonders.
i think my animation could use more smears. more anticipation and follow thru too! the stuff that makes cartoons feel like cartoons
more on smears
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38. networking takes patience
2023-11-07 10:04:32 UTC
i spent $320 on a ticket to TAAFI and it was good but also… i felt alienated sometimes
people would read me as not helpful toward their goals and I’d feel like a pest.
sometimes I met a friend or a peer or a mentor. that was kinda amazing.
I…
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37. play with camera placement
2023-11-07 09:55:00 UTC
someone went and updated the 12 principles of animation
its organized more naturally.
I’m noticing my animations have boring cinematography and relationships. im so focused on acting and colour that I’m missing story and scene.
also my overshoot game is weak!
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36. don’t polish a turd
2023-11-05 22:17:56 UTC
In this video
https://youtu.be/-i-EgBilwks?si=5eisJLdaP-0cHPYk
He says that too much art is finished prematurely. And it’s better to hold back, and focus on shape form composition. Work in greyscale, use only the lasso tool. Make something that works great. THEN polish it.
Working in greyscale with foreground, med and background. Great…
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35. animate in black and white, colour later
2023-11-01 21:14:04 UTC
adding colour too soon isn’t wise. It takes so much time to redraw things that the animation becomes stagnant or takes double the time
A great process for animating is to block things out roughly and add detail later. Focus on key poses, shapes and ideas! Use an audio clip…
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34. rethink how you make an animation reel
2023-10-24 03:06:18 UTC
I am finally getting connected with the animation community, thank GOD. I met with artist gbpooky who is making effects for kids show. I learned the animation industry is a lot more like a restaurant or factory where they really need to hire people to do the job
Then I…
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33. take the wheel
2023-09-22 13:10:00 UTC
I had this dream about my past - how my family started and worked and built something. I woke up feeling more awake than I have in some time
There’s something beautiful about seeing the past and feeling connected to it.
This dream gave me a positive connection to the…
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32. anger is good
2023-09-11 17:15:00 UTC
somedays (like today) everything is perfect but I just feel completely BLEH
It’s confusing - WHY am I not happy? I realize now that, at least today it’s because I’m missing some good old fashioned rage. These little irritations build up and I try to solve them with peaceful, controlling…
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31. I admit there is a payoff
2023-09-06 16:35:00 UTC
I have a desire to create art as quickly as possible, make it awesome and immediately get a ton of positive feedback.
I’m realizing this is a problem.
Chasing that dopamine hit, I rush into creation with a desire to snag something good. Then, seeking external validation, I lose touch…
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30. failure is part of the recipe
2023-09-06 14:51:00 UTC
Spent about 10 hours making these 3D dungeon animations. I just got lost and stopped working on them, it felt bad. I felt like I failed. Or like I have this loose thread that I ought to get back to
This harsh judgement is so.. harsh!
“failure” is part of…
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29. let authenticity be a ramp, not a wall
2023-09-06 14:43:10 UTC
I’ve started projects and put a lot of passion and work into them. Until one day, I realize “this project isn’t authentic to me. It’s not what I truly want to do.” so I shut it down and walk away
this inner radar I have that detects bullshit is good!…
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28. start simple, add detail
2023-08-31 05:11:00 UTC
Keep it simple by Proko
Starting simple applies to every art form.
Identifying big shapes in drawing, big plot points and themes in writing, clear characters in animation, key physics attributes in puzzle-making.
It’s always tempting to add detail too early. But like they said in the tiktok linked above,…
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27. showing up vs setting goals
2023-08-30 03:34:58 UTC
it’s great to just show up daily to the art table buuuut eventually it feels good to set a concrete goal
I am making an album. I am making a book of puzzles. I am making music videos.
These things are concrete and can be real.
How do I integrate…
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26. make art/comedy/write about real things
2023-08-20 05:11:00 UTC
went to a pretty brutal comedy show. the comedians were mostly unfocused and babbling. i realised a good story, a good art piece is about something. a noun. A snowman, a waterfall, a broken car. just give me something tangible to imagine and engage with
even better, make us…
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25. let go of “productivity”
2023-08-20 04:01:00 UTC
letting go of the idea that I must be constantly producing something
it was suffocating me
instead, having a joy for the process of creating and learning
and discovering the greater “thing” that I want to create
this new way of thinking is very peaceful and actually produces more and…
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24. the new iPad effect
2023-08-10 08:46:00 UTC
Walking through Best Buy, I was salivating at all the pretty gizmos and gadgets. Yes I have an iPad and an iPhone but that iPad Mini would be perfect. It’s so mini! I could bring it to a cozy little coffee shop where I could write the next great novel…
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23. add textures
2023-08-09 22:17:51 UTC
I’ve kinda thought of textures and fancy brushes as a bit of a crutch, like it hides the actual art behind a default aesthetic. I’m realizing that’s not true. The texture can enhance the art and open the door to more styles. Here are three of the texture packs I’ve…
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22. it’s all part of your process
2023-08-04 16:22:00 UTC
I’ve been struggling with my art practice! Some days I just work at something that never really goes anywhere, like an animation that I spend weeks on only to leave it behind. I’ve been struggling because it feels shameful to be so “unproductive” and if I fancy myself a writer…
© Jeremy Nir
