How I Animate

How I Animate

two animations, one of a woman baring her teeth and brushing her hair back (animation A), and the other of an elven woman turning into an anthropomorphic fox (animation B). "How I Animate" is superimposed on top.

The Technique:

I draw the frames and then I use the liquify tool to push the lines into the next frame and redraw them where I need to. This allows me to keep the lines consistent, but gives me the control of frame by frame animation bc I am still making each frame manually! I also use 3d models as reference to help me with the angles! Super important to use reference while you animate (and with art in general), if youre no good handling 3d models then act it out and record yourself!

progressive gif showing animation A starting from a rough 3d reference to a completed 2d animated piece

The Theory:

i think most people are at least loosely familiar with the 12 principles of animation (if youre not, heres a 2.5 minute video showcasing them!), but may not necessarily know how to employ them. the main 3 i tend to focus on when I animate is rhythm, telegraphing, and inertia so ill cover those there 👍

1. Timing & Rhythm

Timing is how you space out your frames both in how long an individual frame is held for, and also when you drawn an inbetween of two frames you can favour one frame slightly more than the other instead of drawing the exact average of the cels, giving the favoured cel more timing weight.

two animated lines showcasing the difference timing makes.

Left line has the cels evenly spaced out on the timeline, right holds the first cel for longer and the second cel slightly favours the last frame. It creates a more interesting rhythm to the animation! Rhythm is how I think of animation timing. Theres a beat like a song to every animation I make, and creating an interesting beat is what makes an animation fun to watch (for me, anyway):

Animation A with a small pink dot pulsing to the animation's beat.
Animation B with a small pink dot pulsing to the animation's beat.

2. Anticipation / Telegraphing

Two animated lines. The first is the same from the previous line gif, but the second now has anticipation applied on top of the different timing.

Before I animate a big change in movement, I like to telegraph that its coming. Usually this is doing a little counter movement in the opposite direction, but thats not the only way to telegraph a motion, e.g. eye movement can telegraph a head turn!

Animation A. A pink arrow flashes above her head as her eyes move to look at the viewer, then her head turns.
Animation A. A small arrow points down for a split second then points upwards as her head tilts in the same directions.
Animation B. An arrow points up and back, then forwards, then sideways and then finally forwards again. She glares and then tilts her head while baring her teeth before transforming into a fox along to these arrows.

3. Follow-through / Overshoot / Inertia

two lines again. The second line now bounces exaggeratedly as it reaches the end of the animation, as if a wooden stick hit something.
The same lines again, the second line stops with a tiny bit of very subtle inertia.

Unless the movement is mechanical, it wont come to a hard stop and will have some level of bounce or easing out to it. How much "bounce" you add will have a big impact on how the animation feels, but a very subtle bounce will add a natural feeling to the end of a motion.

The hair brushing back and head tilt part of animation A.

Secondary animations will use a lot of this, note that the head and the hand have a small amount of continuous motion (primary animation), and then the hair has a lot of bounce and inertia (secondary animation which reacts to the primary animation). Note the different amounts applied to the braid vs the sideburn vs the bangs

anyway! I hope this was insightful ❤️ if you like my art you can commission me by the by :)

More Posts from Arttuti and Others

7 years ago
Just When You Thought You Knew Everything About Boobs… NSFW?

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Just When You Thought You Knew Everything About Boobs… NSFW?

My darling friend Chizzi mentioned that there are a lot of booby tutorials out there are just predrawn boobs with the artist going HEY LOOK! HERE ARE SOME BOOBS! but not many that actually talk about the anatomical structure, and where to put the lines.  I was like, “Hey, I can probably whip something up.“  And so I spent my thanksgiving making this.

Proportions probably aren’t exact, but I did my best.  I also didn’t explore the various body types, but perhaps I could do a separate tutorial someday.  I hope you find this tutorial useful :)

All photo references used in the tutorial were found on The Drawing Script.  Credits to each photo belong to their respective owners.


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7 years ago

Hi! Idk if my qn got sent before (tumblr mobile yeesh) I wanted to say i really really love your blog and art style! I was wondering if you have tips to draw Dean's and Cas's hair??

REALLY LATE REPLY BUT UM Dean’s got a hair parting on either side but his hair kinda all comes out from a spot on the back of his head. Keep the sides short but flip up the hair in the front

Hi! Idk If My Qn Got Sent Before (tumblr Mobile Yeesh) I Wanted To Say I Really Really Love Your Blog

And here’s Cas again! Recapping: part on one side and have the hair come out from the parting and flip up in front as well. He’s got a longer fringe than Dean’s

Hi! Idk If My Qn Got Sent Before (tumblr Mobile Yeesh) I Wanted To Say I Really Really Love Your Blog

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7 years ago

Do you have like, a coloring/lighting tutorial? I'm new to digital art and your latest lighting exercise looks.... so good???

Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise
Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise
Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise
Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise
Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise
Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise
Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise
Do You Have Like, A Coloring/lighting Tutorial? I'm New To Digital Art And Your Latest Lighting Exercise

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2 years ago

Do you find drawing environments overwhelming? I did too, for a really long time. I started out drawing characters, and making the switch to painting environments was really hard at first! In my latest patreon tutorial, I break down the process into the most basic and essential steps, so that you don’t get lost in the details and know exactly what to focus on. Find it here for just $5: patreon.com/loish


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1 year ago

Art Help

Art Help

I redid this list because broken links 💀

General Tips

Stretch your fingers and hands

Art is for fun

Never too late to start/improve

Using a tablet

Editing software: pictures & video

Moodboard resources

Comic pacing

Watercolor

Coloring

Color Theory (not children's hospital)

Resources: coloring things a different color

Gold

Dark Skin undertones

Dark Skin in pastel art

POC Blush tones

Eyes colors

Cohesive Color Palette

Lights and Colors

Human Anatomy

POSE REFERENCES

Wizard Battle poses

Romance poses

Shoulders

Tips for practicing anatomy

Proportional Limbs

Skeletons

Hair Directions

Afro, 4C hair

Cane use

Clothing

Long skirts

Traditional Chinese Hanfu (clothing reference)

CLOTHING REFERENCE

Sewing information

Animals

Horse -> Dragon

Snouts: dogs, cats, wolves, fox

Foot, paw, hoof

More

Drawing references sources

Art tutorial Masterlist

Another art tutorial Masterlist

Inspiration: father recreates son's art

Inspiration: Lights

ART BOOKS

Plants/flowers: North America, Hawaii, Patagonia

Art Cheats


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7 years ago

How to show expression with the mouth!

This was a request and at first I wasn’t sure if I had anything to provide with, but as it turn out it got a little longer than I expected because there were actually things I had to say!! Wow!! 

Anyway, this is some guidelines I follow when I try to make the face expressfull, more specifically the mouth! It is often neglected, since it’s actually pretty hard, I’ll admit. But I’m here to help (hopefully…)! A mouth expression tutorial as per request. Enjoy and hopefully it will help some a little. ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Draw the teeth at the right angle. 

This is super important. The upper jaw follows the angle of the head, and the lower jaw will depend on how open it is. Make sure you have a rough estimate of where the teeth are, and how much of them you’re going to see!

The lips will VERY roughly follow the same angle as the teeth. It really depends on the character, but it gives you a sense at least. 

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

If you DON’T do this, you’re going to lose so much volume and the mouth is going to end up looking unrelatable. I showed this example in this tutorial:

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

It’s not just the lips! 

The cheeks, chin, and tongue play a role too! 

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

Try look at your own mouth or references! I have a very pliable and large mouth, so that’s one reason why my characters have it too lmao.

ASYMMETRYYYYY (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง

I cannot emphasize how important asymmetry is when drawing expressions. It applies not only to the eyebrows to achieve the Dreamwork Face™, but also the mouth. Seriously if you draw a symmetric mouth I will deliver myself to your mailbox and then shout at you until you fix it. 

Look at the difference between these two for example: which one has more “life”? 

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

I think you get the idea.

Push and squish - give it flow

Here’s an old drawing I have but it illustrates how I think when I squish the mouth, and use folding and wrinkles to my advantage.

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

Look at your own face and see where skin bundles up, where it creases the most and when bumps appear on your chin. Subtle details makes all the difference! 

One VERY effective detail is illustrated in the first sketch, where I pull upwards on one side, and downwards on the other. That’s a good detail to use when the character is making a skewed expression, or is extremely frustrated. I encourage you to play around with that concept bc it’s ~super effective~!

EXAMPLES:

Happy: Your entire mouth is pushed upwards, not just the corners of your mouth!

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

I tend to draw a :3 mouth bc I’ve been drawing Lance too much….. You don’t have to but it’s basically imprinted in my motor memory by now. 

Pouting/frowning: corners are pushed down, middle pushed slightly up. Sometimes, there’s a slight dip in the middle too. It can give a sense that the character is biting their lips.

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

Showing frustration/intimidating/is intimidated: basically showing a lot of teeth. The corners are as open as possible and the middle sorta more squished. An extremely important detail here is showing some of the gums, and open space between the cheeks and teeth. That way it looks like the mouth it open to it’s full potential. Here is also where you basically MUST add folds and bumps, or else it’s not going to look relatable. 

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

(Here I am again with the pulling upwards on one side and downwards on the other, as illustrated on the last sketch)

And then again, here’s just another doodle showing how important it is to show the gums. It’s the same face twice, but the second one looks slightly more frustrated doesn’t it?

How To Show Expression With The Mouth!

(from my other tutorial on how to draw facial expressions)

As you can see, this last one is very versatile and I draw it a lot. Play around with the basic shape and see how much subtle details makes a lot of difference! 

That’s it! 

I hope that cleared some things up and was somewhat helpful! Enjoy drawing ✨


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7 years ago
An Anon Asked Me For An Eye Tutorial 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

An anon asked me for an eye tutorial 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

I highly recommend looking reference photos on the internet to get used to drawing different eyes, and also to take photos of yourself to get used to drawing different angles/expressions – Don’t just blindly draw the same eye over and over again, because without a strong basis of drawing by observation, you could get into some bad habits, and all your characters will look the same. :)


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7 years ago
Tears Tutorial By Frecklesordirt

Tears tutorial by frecklesordirt


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