I'm currently working on my (20
th?)new cartoon short "
SHERYL SHINES". It's basically the short tale of a girl and how she acts when "
alcoholized". I have the
theme song finished(with brother Bob), audio recorded/mixed, and art 90% finished (need to color in Photoshop). I thought I'd give you a peek into my process.
Above are some of the scenes I've drawn so far, about 2/3 of the short. Uncolored line art (Sharpie) on regular typing paper. Two images per page (16:9 ratio for all you film techs). Since I have the audio 100 % done, I'll match the pics to the soundtrack in Flash. I use Flash as an editor.
Here is a good example of how incredibly complex and expensive my animation is. In this scene, I will
color the scene in
Photoshop, animate her mouth and add a few arms waving.
That's it.
Pixar quality, yes, I am aware.
The colors are really going to help bring it to life. There is alot to look at in this shot, so that will help distract....err...fool...err..CONVINCE the viewer that there is more animation than there really is. A parlor trick? Yes. Effective? Oh yes.
When I draw a character (like Sheryl here), I concentrate on their mood,
body language, and context of what they are doing/saying RATHER than just their movements. In this shot, I drew the
background separately and will add it later.
I will scan and color Sheryl and add her different arms as needed in the scene. I use one picture (
jpg) for each shot. So, example: For Sheryl to move her arm back and forth its 3 shots total:
1) Sheryl's arm down
2) arm up
3) arm moved in a direction.
Then I'll go in and add eye blinks and mouths, drawing them over my
jpg layer in Flash. That is the only time I use the Flash drawing
tools (and maybe to add some small effects). I usually draw on
paper and scan. I like having the original artwork.
This is
Stefani (Sheryl's right hand girl). In this shot, I drew the background
separate and will add it after. The hand and foot (above the car) will be animated to move about to make it look like someone is making out in the car. I will also copy/paste the little car (top left) to make it look like there are more cars in the lot. Usually, I just draw the background all by
hand, but sometimes I like to use modern science....because I am, as you may know, lazy.
So to summarize, this is my simple method. I've done cartoons in Flash,
After Effects, and
Anime Studio, and let me tell you- this is by far the quickest/easiest/most effective. I've been told time and again by viewers that its the CONTENT that keeps them coming back for more. Cheap animation? That is my government name! "Sheryl Shines" will be coming to YouTube (and DVD) very soon. Thanks!
HOT OFF THE PRESSES:
My cousin Ted Lujan was on the cover of the Library Journal a while back. Yes, my cousin is a cover boy. Ted is an interesting guy. Here's a little trivia about Ted:
I'm currently working on my (20th?)new cartoon short "SHERYL SHINES". It's basically the short tale of a girl and how she acts when "alcoholized". I have the theme song finished(with brother Bob), audio recorded/mixed, and art 90% finished (need to color in Photoshop). I thought I'd give you a peek into my process.
Here is a good example of how incredibly complex and expensive my animation is. In this scene, I will color the scene in Photoshop, animate her mouth and add a few arms waving. That's it. Pixar quality, yes, I am aware.
This is Stefani (Sheryl's right hand girl). In this shot, I drew the background separate and will add it after. The hand and foot (above the car) will be animated to move about to make it look like someone is making out in the car. I will also copy/paste the little car (top left) to make it look like there are more cars in the lot. Usually, I just draw the background all by hand, but sometimes I like to use modern science....because I am, as you may know, lazy.
Thanks to Cousin Ted Lujan for the photo. This is a shot of the audience at the Atlantic Library in Commerce. We did a live art demo event for the kids there back in November. Just looking at some old pics and came across this one. What a great audience. It was fun having them participate, too. There will be a TON of Cartoonista live art shows in Feb. We already have 2 lined up, one more to be confirmed shortly. Keep checking back for the details.
Click pic for HUGE version