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Are there any animation artists out there?

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Tamico Since: Dec, 1969
#1: Sep 21st 2011 at 1:54:04 AM

Personally, there are just so many questions I have about getting into 2D animation and what it's like, but extremely few resources. I mean, it's by pure luck that I even know about CAL Arts. There's certainly no list of best animation schools listed on the internet (that I could find anyway) and it's so hard to figure out the professional process without taking classes on it.

And, I mean, I really love cartoons. And I love figuring things out and all my favorite art is in loose quick sketches, and I like studying movement and how our body moves when we shrug our shoulders or lean back on our heels in thought. But tedious things frustrate me, wasting time frustrates me. Careful detail frustrates me, and the kind of art you see in museums is so far out of my understanding that I'd get really nervous if I ever had to do one of those swirly vortexes of color that are suppose to represent something deep, because I just don't get it.

Is there a job or place for a person like me in the animation world? Because it seems like what animation requires is detail, patience, (virtue, temperance, fortitude... etc.) I guess maybe story boarding is the only job in the process that I can think of that would be different... (but of course, I don't really know anything) Would you have to go to school for animation to branch into that, or concentrate on some other major..?

Also, any resources or links at all would be extremely helpful. Thank you for your time!

kyun Since: Dec, 2010
#2: Sep 21st 2011 at 9:07:28 AM

I am an animation artist. You may want to read some of the animation books by Eric Goldberg, Richard Williams, Preston Blair, or Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnson, if you want to go into character animation.

And yes, I too am annoyed by how long it takes to have an enjoyable, healthy animation career. Any of those processes (hand-drawings, CG, stop-motion) seem to take so long to produce that I'm convinced the field functions on another plane of existence where time slows down by %1000! It's like you can't make any mistakes once you are on the job, or you will regret it decades later.

Tamico Since: Dec, 1969
#3: Sep 22nd 2011 at 12:47:16 AM

Thank you for responding. :) Do you think it's worth it despite all that?

Shota Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Dancing with myself
#4: Sep 22nd 2011 at 5:52:07 AM

I agree with kyun.

I'm drawing and animating today, right?

If you simply cannot fathom living life without it, it will be worth it, even if you need to do it for free or for yourself (though we hope it never really comes to that).

edited 22nd Sep '11 5:52:21 AM by Shota

DrDepo Since: Jul, 2010
#5: Sep 23rd 2011 at 3:13:59 PM

If you want to go into animation, you better be prepared to love and hate the job at the same. Shota's right, you've got to live, breath and feel animation to be happy with it for a career.

The good news is that if you can't do careful detail, well, you don't really need to. I mean, look at the most successful cartoons in the business - Simpsons? Adventure Time? Family Guy? How detailed are those cartoons? You don't need to draw with detail to get a job animating those shows. I'd still say it's helpful to be able to do it, but it's fathomable to build a career in cartooning without understanding complex realism at all. Rod Scribner himself couldn't draw realistically to save his life, or so I'm told.

edited 23rd Sep '11 3:27:30 PM by DrDepo

Shota Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Dancing with myself
#6: Sep 23rd 2011 at 4:49:09 PM

Detail is important if you become an inker (or in this day and age, "clean-up developer" is more like it, since its pretty much done on computer now). Me, I cannot ink well, and admire those who can.

DrDepo Since: Jul, 2010
#7: Sep 25th 2011 at 1:06:25 PM

Yeah, I've seen layout sketches that are all scratchy and all over the place, because in that part of the industry, you're just trying to get the forms and shapes down.

HidingGames Awesomebender Since: Apr, 2011
Awesomebender
#8: Sep 25th 2011 at 1:30:51 PM

Well I figured this would be the right topic to ask this, so I hope no one minds:

Since a couple of you here say you're animators (I'm assuming you mean professionally?) how much free time do you have?

Juuuust curious.

Theoriginalblader Sloving cases one by one from Downtown Since: Feb, 2011
Sloving cases one by one
#9: Sep 25th 2011 at 1:50:46 PM

If you want to get superheroes, you can always pick up the "How to draw comics the marvel way" by stan lee. But I'd suggest you'd find yourself a copy of the animation book that Richard Williams released, long read but hell its worth it!

HidingGames Awesomebender Since: Apr, 2011
Awesomebender
#10: Sep 25th 2011 at 1:58:00 PM

^The Animator's Survival Kit? That's a great book, I have it, very informative and I've heard that many people recommend it.

Theoriginalblader Sloving cases one by one from Downtown Since: Feb, 2011
Sloving cases one by one
#11: Sep 25th 2011 at 2:01:30 PM

[up]Yep! That's the one! Although, only problem is it is pricy. But I got lucky since I got mine from a friend who was done with it and sold me it for 75 dollars. No foolin.

HidingGames Awesomebender Since: Apr, 2011
Awesomebender
#12: Sep 25th 2011 at 2:08:46 PM

....are you sure we're talking about the same book? Mine has a tag for thirty dollars on the back, and Amazon has it for like, 25.

Mine was given to me, but, well, still.

Shota Since: Oct, 2010 Relationship Status: Dancing with myself
#13: Sep 25th 2011 at 2:13:12 PM

If you're strapped for cash, get the book instead of his DVD series. That thing's $1,000!!!

Professionally, the most hardcore animators, the ones who do the most work and earn the most respect, have just about no free time.

DrDepo Since: Jul, 2010
#14: Sep 25th 2011 at 5:56:55 PM

[up] That's true for pretty much anybody devoted to their craft, whatever it might be.

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