babstheanimator

[babstheanimator]

Inspirational shorts

I’ll be listing a couple of inspirational shorts in no particular order. I hope you can learn a bit from them.

1. what about a man? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1urscLw2NN0

I first saw this video a few years ago, I guess I saw this one when it came out. You can learn quite a few things from this animation. Things like storytelling, voice acting and design. This animation is very well put together. I like that the story really doesn’t go anywhere and that there are twists and turns every time some sort of advancements happen. The way they talk is very simple and I really like the different characters. They are all very different but they all seem to be voiced by the same guy.

The designs are very simple. And that is not a bad thing. The colours are very nice to look at and are really catching. The character design is outstanding and look very slick. The backgrounds are also really well done and add as much as they should to the animation. Backgrounds are very important, but not always it depends on what story you want to tell and the feeling you want to leave people.

A thing I would change is probably some of the dialogue, although it is very fitting for this animation I’d write out the script a bit further and use more people to voice the characters to add more diversity. It’s ok to voice all the characters yourself but it does lead to a bit of a mess when all the characters sound kind of the same.   2. Pinched Animation Short Film. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmPvjZKBNYY

Also an animation I first saw a while ago. I was amazed at how cool the characters looked and how awesome the animation was. The whole tone throughout the animation is also one I really dig. This animation has al sorts of things that you don’t see often in shorts. It has stealing, drug use ,corrupt cops and mental illness but it all comes together so nicely and I don’t think the story would’ve worked without it.

I really liked the music allot too. Your soundtrack is very important when making an animation. It really helps selling a feeling or idea. If you go to school for animation or know other animators than finding people that could make a short soundtrack for you is amazing. If you don’t know anyone than you could always try making something yourself or using free stock music, nothing wrong with that right? You just might find the thing you’re looking for.

3. Entropy – Animate Short Film. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwltCgkB6Pk

Very well use of music again. The entire sound design really fills me with a sense of wonder. The feeling this animation left me with was longing. It did this with very effectively. The shapes and forms of the moonscape are just right. Really nice looking golden spirals all over the place, in contrast to the spiky look of what I assume to be Earth. I can’t really get over how much I liked the little cute tune? I will definitely re-watch this in the future.  I’ve talked about the other ones allot so I’m going to keep the remaining ones a bit shorter.

4. Alight - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLZJ-E2CWuw

A story about two opposites and love. It's really fun to play arround with core subjects like these. These are used allot in shorts. While most not as literal like this one. Good bad, dark light, up down and right left. If you start looking for them they're everywhere.

5. Diamon Jack - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRpiBvwKX6c

Amazing use of animation. The lines are nice and messy. The characters are made of fun and simple shapes. I think the music is written specifically for this animation. The twist at the end is a real nice one. For a moment you think he's just stealing the diamond but then the song suggests otherwise and then we see what is actually happening.

6. Voodont - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9p1Yj28uts

A story about revenge perhaps? She doesn’t really have an obvious motive for torturing the cheerleader girl but not all characters should have obvious motives. Sometimes it’s better to leave the missing bits for the viewers to fill in. You shouldn’t  narrate or give details about everything. Because, why would you? It’d take ages to complete everything. The backgrounds again, are filled with allot of fun little details that don’t take too much attention away from the story.

I hope this has been interesting and tell me if u guys want to see more of these recommendation kind of things. It really helps finding new and exciting inspiration for whatever you’re making.

#animation #student animation #inspiration #long post #tell me if you guys want me to talk about any specific animations they dont have to be student films

[babstheanimator]

A bit about me.

I Guess what describes me as a person is kind of the way I go about doing things? I go into most projects head first not really knowing what to expect. This is mostly because I normally try to plan things out beforehand to the extend that I never actually begin on the project. So allot of things are still on the backlog. Things usually well when I depend on my intuition but it’s really exhausting sometimes. So I guess that’s something to work on.

I like watching animation shorts in my free time. I don’t study art as much as I used to but I still sometimes pick up an art book or watch a video when I’m struggling with something. I really like birds for some reason? I just kind of like everything about them, the way they move, their colours and all the different shapes and forms they come in. Oh and dinosaurs, I really like them too.

Watching animations and artwork from people I look up to and my friends makes me feel inspired. The way they animate certain things, the way they use colours, their characters and their personalities. I like getting to know the person behind the work. Because chances are they are much like you.

There are many things that fascinate me. Space, palaeontology, science, history ,psychology and mythology are some of the things that get my attention. Also a mix or these things are nice. Like HP Lovecrafts work. I just really like big space monsters.

I like making other people happy because that make me happy. Easy as that. That’s part of the reason I want to become an animator. It really gets me down when others aren’t happy. I’m just a human ok, It’s what humans do. There are not many things that grind my gears but I think people that are playing a victim for attention, people that make a problem where there is none or people who get angry when people disagree with them. I don’t hold any grudges really and if I do it’s not for very long. I just have a hard time staying mad.

My personal statement is. Try your damn best when you have to, but don’t forget to take naps. Just try to treat yourself like a kid. Feed yourself, don’t go to bed too late, be your best self, shower at least 5 times a week and take breaks!

I am a dreamer. I like to think about everything I could make. How much time it would cost. How many frames a bit of animation should be. I do these things allot when I’m in the bus or train. It helps me actually do it. It trains my muscle memory. Everyone has a picture in their head of what they want but when it actually comes down to put in on paper it turns out way different. This is a very stupid thing that your stupid human brain does. It really helps to think about what you want to make in steps instead of the end product. When you do this your art will actually look more like it looks in your head.

I like people with opinions about things. I like debating and finding out why they believe what they do. It helps to form your own opinion. You really shouldn’t shun people for disagreeing with you and having different world views. The status, sexuality, gender or the way someone looks doesn’t make a person interesting It’s the way they think, their opinion and world view that make a person a person. This counts for compelling characters too. When they don’t have a world view or opinion that makes sense or is interesting than they are probably a shit character. The way a person thinks is what drives them. It should make sense right?

I, like many others like listening to music whenever I’m animating, drawing, playing videogames or doing homework. The genres I usually listen too are Rock, Metal, sinthwave and classical music. I just like anything that gives me a feeling. Or something that has compelling lyrics or sounds I like. Music is just a collection of sounds our monkey brains like.

I am able to appreciate most artforms. I think they just need to conjure up a feeling or idea. Some things I just don’t get but that’s on my part. Sometimes it’s hard to see a meaning behind something you have no reference for.

I grew up in a pretty normal household with an older sister and a younger brother with me as the middle child. I always had access to art and science books and I liked nature allot. I liked playing by myself allot and would run of when people weren’t looking. As a small boy I dug around in forests allot. I found allot of bones and nice looking rocks. This sparked my interests in science and history at a young age. I had habits of wearing a fluffy cape and hat with bear ears to school every day. I carried a big Dinosaur and other ancient creatures encyclopaedia around allot. And I would always ask people to read it to me. I mostly liked looking at the pictures because I only started reading at a late age partly because of being very stubborn and having Dyslexia.

I really like forests. I myself identify as a forest gnome (jk ofc it’s funny) because I am a short below average boy with a little beard. I like taking a magnifying glass up to moss and mushrooms because I like the way they look al zoomed in.

I really don’t like modern cities that much. I live in a 990 year old city with much of the architecture remaining (I live the Dutch city Amersfoort). I really like the organic look of the streets and buildings. When the building are just practical and box like I just get depressed.

I try to look at the world in a positive way. I don’t think it’s very useful too look at things too cynically, because how’s that going to help you huh? Just try to make the best of it.

I hope this was interesting and I learned you guys some things.  

#about me #life lessons #animation #art #personally #trigger warning

[babstheanimator]

My artistic family

To me an artistic family are poeple that inspire you to make the things you want.

-Deedee (Quentin Tracy). I really dig his old timey style. His movements are really smooth and clean. I especially like his colour use and the way he animates mouths. He also makes great backgrounds wich I find hard to do and complete sometimes. He likes contributing to collaborations and it seems to me he's keeping track of all of them.

I'd say he's learned me to be courageous and try new and scary things. I know him as a very close friend and he's helped me with many things like learning to sync up lips to audio and get feedback on animations and art. He's just a great person.

Tumblr - http://dee-has-a.tumblr.com/

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbCY98vgxETuV-QStCBkc-g

Twitter - https://twitter.com/Bigbird96

-Felix Colgrave. Creator of amazing shorts like Double King, The Elephants Garden and Dry Run. I can really apreciate the time and effort that went into these beautiful shorts.

I also gain allot of confidence by looking back at his older animations from his Newgrounds days. It really shows his progression to the art and animation style he ended up with. I can see that his style really rubbed of on me.

Tumblr - https://lalaladilla.tumblr.com/

Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/MasterAardvark

Twitter - https://twitter.com/FelixColgrave

-MC Escher. Although I believe he didn't really consider himself much of an artist and more someone who liked creating prints, I'd say he was a great inspiration while I was developing as an artist. We've always had art books and puzzles at home with the work of MC Escher wich I've always liked flipping through when I was young. I especially like his creature designs and the way he fits fantastic animals into a mosaic.

-Francis Bacon. I really like the dark tones his paintings have. They fill me with a spooky feeling. Perfect inspiration for horrid creatures unlike anything else. I like seeing things in movies inspired by his art, like the jokers face paint during the intarogation scene in the Dark Knight. He's a special one for sure.

#deedee #quentin tracy #animation #felix colgrave #mc escher #francis bacon #artistic family #artwork #student #glu #gludent #animation short

[babstheanimator]

animation run cycle notes for my upcoming 2D animation video course package

[babstheanimator]

tru

This is my favorite one tbh

[babstheanimator]

made a little animation for fun

#animation #my art

[babstheanimator]

This is rlly good. :D

[babstheanimator]

Very very helpfull. Good if you're having trouble with facial expressions.

How to do “extra” facial expressions!

Drawing basic facial expressions is not the hardest. Most people can draw a sad face, a happy face, angry etc., but making more multidimensional expressions is more of a challenge. I have gotten a lot of compliments on how I draw facial expressions, (specifically “angsty ones”) telling me that they are very dramatic and well… expressive! And there are actually only a few things I think about when I draw faces that take them to the next level, so I thought i’d illustrate them all here!

SUPER IMPORTANT TIP BEFORE WE START: Look at your own face when you draw faces. Even making the face when you are drawing (you don’t even have to look at it), will give you some sense of how the face muscles pull and where things fold and stretch, because you can feel it. You are the best reference when it comes to facial expressions!

Angles 

Draw the head in an angle that matches the expressions you want to make. It is not a requirement, but is going to add to the effect.

Symmetry vs asymmetry 

A face is rarely symmetric. Unless the face the character is making is 100 % relaxed or even dissociating, the eyebrows, mouth and facial muscles will have different placements of their respective side. This image shows the dramatic impact asymmetry has on a face: 

That’s the difference between a smile and a smirk!

The first one’s like “oh yeah?” and the second is like “oH YEAH??”

The “balloon squishing principle”

This is something I did subconsciously, and I didn’t know about until I made this tutorial. And this principle goes hand in hand with an asymmetric face. Basically, if you squish one part of the face, you need to even out the empty space by “inflating” the other part of the face so that it doesn’t appear shrunken. The picture hopefully explains it:

Teeth 

Don’t forget to add the gum when the mouth is open to its full potential!

Squinting and folding

Adding folds around the eyes when a character is squinting makes a HUGE difference. It makes a smile more genuine and a growl more intimidating. Adding folds to the face in general makes your characters more lifelike and ‘visually relatable’. Like, they look human, and less plastic or fake.

and so on..

Pupils and irises 

The placement of the iris and pupil in relation to the eyelids is very important! The less of the white you see, the more relaxed the character is. 

And then of course eyebrows and eyes go hand in hand!

Gestures, spitting, sweating… 

Adding more elements than just a face is key to making the character actually look like they are feeling what you want them to feel. Just the tiniest sweat drop adds to their anxiety, spitting adds frustration to their rage, slouching shoulders, waving hands, a double chin, extreme angles, the list goes on! Add whatever and see what kind of impact it makes! Does it do the trick? Great! Add it! 

Over exaggeration!! 

Remember that you can almost always exaggerate more. Don’t be afraid to do draw “too much” because you’re just experimenting. See what works and what doesn’t. What do you like to exaggerate?

Now that you know some theory, it’s time to practice!

Practicing!! 

The 25 Essential Expressions (a classic! I’ve done it multiple times)

And the one I do when I’m bored:

Fill a page with circles and fill them in with different expressions. Try and exaggerate as much as you can! 

This is mostly for experimenting. They are quicker to draw than complete faces, but the same rules should apply!

And that’s about it!

I don’t know if I covered everything in this tutorial, since some things might be obvious for me, and this post perhaps only scratches the surface. So feel free to send me a message if you want an explanation about something more in depth! Thank you for reading! And now DRAW!!! ✨🎨

[babstheanimator]

It's a Ding Dong doing a sneeze!! :D

#DingDong #oneyplays #animation #gif #my animation

[babstheanimator]

Thank you so much Deedee. Ur an amazing person!!!

#inktober2018 #precious There are few things I can think of that really speak to me personally as being precious, but when I saw the story @babsbortje posted today, I was reminded of one thing that fits this theme very well for me. He’s a real sweet friend, a distinct cartoonist, and handsome to boot! 😊 #deeisbrowsing #inktober #caricature #cartoon https://www.instagram.com/p/Bou7yAQh6MP/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=19n6svniyk4dd