drawings that tell a story

I went to see my old uni lecturer today and after telling him about my recent trip, he encouraged me to put my experiences into the context of a story or stories. Even moments that could be expressed by a single image.

This has coincided with reading some of the Walt Stanchfield lectures where a recurring lesson is to tell a story with every drawing .

Also, John K has a post that comes to this conclusion.

Guess I better listen to the pros.

Copying Jerry

John K lesson 9a

According to John K, tom and jerry are ideal for copying as they are pretty much as generic as you can get as far as design goes. I spent a bit more time than usual trying to get proportion right although I let the last two go a bit. in the full body sketches, i was concentrating a lot on perspective and i think the drawings show a bit more depth.

how to be funny

Animation Comedy and Gag Writing by Jean Ann Wright

"Why does Johnny Bravo refuse to cross the road?…Because he’s no chicken!"

some of the comedy devices listed:

Impersonation/Disguise (a character in costume or drag)

Role Reversal and Anthropomorphism (two forms of reference and you oscillate between them)

Pretense and Exposure (hypocrisy, The Emperor’s New Clothes)

Pull Back and Reveal (the basic gag element is at first hidden from the audience)

Hidden Element (the basic gag element is hidden from one of the characters)

Misunderstanding, Turnabout (things are the opposite of what we expect)

One At a Time

One At a Time

this is a great use of basic geometry and very classy character design. animator is Valentina Ventimiglia