blog
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61. ask yourself, “what if it were easy?”
January 3, 2024
I tend to make certain things really hard in my mind. I tell myself “I’m not good with money” and “I’m not good enough at anything to make a career” and “I’m confused about my career” and these become true. these are my limiting beliefs.
The thing is, what feels…
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60. look at your art in the mirror
December 31, 2023
After an hour+ working on a piece, it starts to look right. It plateaus
When you reverse your art digitally or in a mirror, you see it through new eyes.
don’t be afraid to step away, come back and redo stuff. break it.
I was thinking of an expression…
“If…
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59. feng shui and film design
December 25, 2023
been watching these videos by Dear Modern talking about Chi in a home. his way of thinking is so soothing and clear
I have been thinking of ways to apply energy flow design into other types of design like animations and even my website.
Once I saw Feng Shui it’s…
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58. overwhelmed? take actions, accept flaws and boundaries
December 25, 2023
December was stressy
Overwhelmed about gift buying and applying to jobs and just collapsing
it helped to write a list of things to do. it helped to clean a bit. it helped to draw a bit.
I got through december a little worse for wear with less money and no…
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57. HYPE aka add trust indicators
December 9, 2023
I’m watching this video about Tommy Tallarico. He’s made music for over 350 games garnering him 7 Guinness World Records. His mansion was on MTV Cribs a couple times and celebrities love him.
Noo he lied. He hyped himself up and took credit for other people’s work and stole millions…
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56. managing sleep!
December 7, 2023
I’m a night owl so I often don’t align with the rest of the world. Understanding my mental rhythm over 24 hours helps me plan ahead
In the morning I am curious and calm. In the afternoon I like to step outside and get my thoughts in order. In the…
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55. some days hurt
December 4, 2023
today I got shit on by a bird. I woke up in a miserable fog (my fault for staying up til’ 6am playing a mystery game and FORGETTING TO SAVE!!!) I slept until noon and woke up to a frustrating phone call. drifted around, cried, muttered. walked the dog (that’s…
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54. consider your art’s context
December 3, 2023
being away from art school, I forget that my work exists in a context of art movements. hell, I forget that I am an artist
every piece of art you make can be examined through the lens of a movement of some place and time, another artist pioneered that movement…
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53. put faces and voices in animations
December 3, 2023
this one is simple. people connect to faces and voices, characters! the more that is present, the more audiences will pay attention
story and world keep people invested
relationships get people REALLY hot n bothered
so write steamy relationships between characters in a world. seems simple but it’s easy to…
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52. use a perspective grid
December 2, 2023
I’ve been wanting to push my perspectives. more dynamic shapes and compositions. how
look at references of course buuut
take a 1, 2 or 3 point perspective grid and hit it with the warp and distort tools. this will create more surreal or extra dramatic compositions.
a distorted perspective can…
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51. use your imagination
December 2, 2023
I got into animation because my imagination runs wild, especially in dreams. It feels good to see these images made real
but its become backwards - sometimes I start drawing before I’ve imagined anything much and then I spend hours working on an animation that isn’t based on any idea.…
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50. walk cycle + moving background = illusion of motion
November 30, 2023
just to demystify the animation process, you can just make a character doing an action and drop it on top of a scene
the illusion will work!
the next step up is having direct interaction between person and setting but it’s cool to start simple.
this music video is a…
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49. make it cinematic with rhythm and camera moves
November 30, 2023
use blur and depth of focus
use staging for storytelling
use rhythmic cutting/camera move on action
this level of camera and editing and cinematography makes stuff more cinematic
next tip: use only two poses to imply animation. aka USE LESS FRAMES
speed ramping camera motion can give the shots a…
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48. learning light and colour and cinematography
November 29, 2023
this video talks about how to practice light and colour by making colour studies
A colour study is a simple thing. You take something crazy basic like an egg or an apple and you study how light hits it. How does colour wrap around the egg? How does sunlight pour…
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47. UNPLUG
November 22, 2023
the most difficult advice by far. unplug. focus on the animation.
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46. delete your art
November 22, 2023
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
November 22, 2023
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
November 21, 2023
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
November 15, 2023
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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
November 15, 2023
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41. make bigger pictures!
November 12, 2023
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
November 11, 2023
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!
November 7, 2023
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
November 7, 2023
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
November 7, 2023
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!
