Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

“

I told Miyazaki I love the “gratuitous motion” in his films; instead of every movement being dictated by the story, sometimes people will just sit for a moment, or they will sigh, or look in a running stream, or do something extra, not to advance the story but only to give the sense of time and place and who they are.
“We have a word for that in Japanese,” he said. “It’s called ma. Emptiness. It’s there intentionally.”
Is that like the “pillow words” that separate phrases in Japanese poetry?
“I don’t think it’s like the pillow word.” He clapped his hands three or four times. “The time in between my clapping is ma. If you just have non-stop action with no breathing space at all, it’s just busyness. But if you take a moment, then the tension building in the film can grow into a wider dimension. If you just have constant tension at 80 degrees all the time you just get numb.

Rogert Ebert, on Hayao Miyazaki (via figureight)

I love this. I think the pause is the most overlooked part of any art- whether it’s visual space, a hold on a phrase of music or dance, space between words and action in scene, or that breath-held beat in a paragraph or line of dialogue.

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(via jasjuliet)

02/9/18

Anonymous asked: Hi there! I love your art, and it makes me want to draw characters like Gladstone too! But every time I try, I can't come up with a nice, neutral pose (like where the heck should the arms go) and the drawing will end up really.. odd.. What would you do in such situations?

I don’t really know how to help, but I guess I always run through a sort of check list when I’m sketching characters that I learned in animation/storyboarding;

1) can you tell who the character is by their silhouette alone?

2) can you tell what the character is doing by their silhouette alone?

3) can you tell what the character is feeling by their silhouette alone?

This doesn’t apply to all pictures (you can have the feeling/motive of the character solely relying on the face, as with a close up, or a change of expression with two identical poses) but it’s a really good exercise to get your body language clear and keep the ‘acting’ of an image to the point. Try to keep limbs held away from the body so you can ‘read’ them, and remember you can use the hands in communicating emotion too.

05/3/17

envelopesyou:

thisislovethisiswar:
Here’s a vid of Dan giving advice for those going through hard times at the Portland show!
Transcription
DAN: I will say, um, seems super- three things. One: keep fucking going. Keep- [audience cheers] as dumb as it sounds, keep breathing. ‘Cuz like, a lot of times when you get into that like mode in your head where you’re like panicking and freaked out, you’re not breathing. So like take a second, step back and be like- [Dan breathes in deep and lets it out on a long ‘aaaahh’] and then you’re like, ‘Oooh. That’s like fucking way better now.’
[he and the audience laugh] Two- look for love, and if there are toxic people in your life, kick ‘em to the fucking curb [audience cheers].
ARIN: And when- when we say ‘love’, we’re not talking about like relationship stuff-
DAN: Romantic love. That comes and goes.
ARIN: -like all love. We’re talking about friends, family, anything.
DAN: You guys! [audience cheers] Totally. Totally. This- I mean- ‘cuz that’s the kinda thing like, there’s not- alright there’s this Elvis quote that I super love. And, uh, [audience shouts some things] -yeah- not Yellvis. [audience laughs]
Alright, the quote goes, ‘In order to be happy you need three things: someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to.’ And you can’t always have all three, like, life just doesn’t work like that. But strive to get two out of those three things and then you’re pretty good. That’s it. [audience cheers]

(via impomaniac)

12/11/16

There are three rules.

sxlinha:

staedtlers-and-stabilos:
1. If you do not go after what you want, you will never have it.
2. If you do not ask, the answer will always be no.
3. If you do not step forward, you will remain in the same place.
Wow, i really needed this

(via spookydraws)

12/4/16

aapstra:

Disney’s Comic Strip Artist’s Kit by Carson van Osten.
You might know these already, but it is such good stuff I don’t think anybody minds if I share it here again. These hand-outs were meant as a way to get beginning artists working on the Disney comics to overcome some recurring drawing problems.
I found this on Mark Kennedy’s awesome blog: Temple of the Seven Golden Camels. Hence the ‘To Mark’ dedication on the fist page which, I guess, features some pretty sound advice for any artist:
“Just keep drawing my friend… Draw like the wind!”
http://sevencamels.blogspot.com

(via maganbee)

07/8/16

shubbabang:

do not compare yourself to leonardo da vinci

(via burdge)

06/9/16

waalkr:

OK SO this is how I showed perspective to a student that was having difficulty visualizing it
Draw the buddy
Use a transformation tool
fill it up like a baloon not forgetting some things cover others
Keep going! That way you keep your proportions right, etc
And don’t forget references for the angles

(via musetensil)

06/5/16

“

Mizuki Shigeru’s Seven Rules of Happiness.
#7 – Believe in what you cannot see – The things that mean the most are things you cannot hold in your hand.
#6 – Take it easy – Of course you need to work, but don’t overdo it! Without rest, you’ll burn yourself out.
#5 – Talent and income are unrelated – Money is not the reward of talent and hard work. Self-satisfaction is the goal. Your efforts are worthy if you do what you love.
#4 – Believe in the power of love – Doing what you love, being with people you love. Nothing is more important.
#3 – Pursue what you enjoy – Don’t worry if other people find you foolish. Look at all the people in the world who are eccentric—they are so happy! Follow your own path.
#2 – Follow your curiosity – Do what you feel drawn towards, almost like a compulsion. What you would do without money or reward.
#1 – Don’t try to win – Success is not the measure of life. Just do what you enjoy. Be happy.

http://hyakumonogatari.com/2015/11/

(via vintagemanga)

(via starfleetrambo)

05/30/16

gingercatsneeze:

1. Ah Fai was a chief animator for McDull’s animated features. He’s super cool. Ultimate senpai.
2. Previous post on breakdowns right here
Some thoughts on acceleration and force
I presented this in the order of how I slowly understood the trick of delivering force - first an abstract concept of impact taught by Ah Fai, then a more complicated discovery on the acceleration pattern, last back to a more abstract concept of breakdowns.
Like I’ve previously stressed, 2D animation is everything but one single approach. There’s no one rule that rules them all, but interchangeable ideas with math, or physics, or music, etc. There’s no “perfect” animation either, but what is perceived as organic and dynamic. E.g., using the Fibonacci numbers to animate didn’t bring me a perfect animation! On the other hand, a tiny change in the pattern could already make the feeling of force so much more powerful.
Not so much of a tutorial than a personal experience. I hope you find this interesting hahaha

(via pupuroon)

05/28/16

vortexsophia:

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03/20/16

Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

There are three rules.

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