Animation: A Huge Help

        I've always been a fan of cartoons. From comics to Saturday mornings, they've fueled my desire to learn art. I've always preferred the still-image, but recently (thanks to school) I've dabbled in animation.  

        
        The animation above is a pencil test that I've done recently to illustrate a character walking into a room, opening a box, and reacting. This is the sort of thing that I grew up wanting to do. It has gone beyond that now. I've reached a point where animation wasn't a means to an end, but rather the beginning of something new. It helped me to harness a few different abilities; like being able to draw something consistent and quick, and learning to harness motion on a still piece of paper. These I feel are key traits to any comic artist. 

        This kind of animation work lent me a new skill: cartooning. I've never really had a fine art ability. Things like painting always evaded me. That was until animation (and my instructor Matt Novak) opened my eyes to how it could help enhance my other skills. Take the digital painting on the left. It showcases both my love of illustration, and my skills learned in animation. Along with all of my illustration teachers, I have been able to hone my skills at painting, cartooning, and drawing in general.

A playbill illustration for a play titled "Monster Mash"

        Comparing the illustration on the left, the Dracula character essentially is the grown-up form of the kid in the animation. This was a way for me to carry over characters and even re-imagine them. It ultimately does what I want to do with my art...tell stories. 

       My whole point to this post is to do anything you can. Don't worry if it has anything to do with what you want to do, it will certainly assist you and give you skills you never thought it could. While animation is all about drawing a lot, I never thought about how it would push my illustrations even further. I thought it would just be another avenue that would have a dead end where I would move on and keep doing still images. I didn't realize it was a hallway with an open door.