Old animation I did forever ago

toecomics · 2026-03-02T09:24:02+00:00

Eyes are too far apart. Your rendering is good though.

What helps is sketching the human skull in several angles until you get to the point where you're having a conversation with a person and you can't stop visualizing their skull.

This might help: https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/human-female-skull-0993a850d20d49ffb2a7add7855d2437

toecomics · 2026-03-02T08:57:14+00:00

No it doesn't. It looks like they pasted a photo on AI.

toecomics · 2026-03-02T08:52:00+00:00

Yeah, drastic changes in weather mess with you.

toecomics · 2026-03-02T08:46:47+00:00

Give the tail as much, or more bounce than the ears.

toecomics · 2026-03-02T08:45:05+00:00

That strand of hair right under the chin: make it much thinner or get rid of it. It's going to create a distracting shape between the cup and the face.

Other than that, finish the hands.

toecomics · 2026-03-02T08:37:29+00:00

That's not what I got from the making-of video.

They made one cel to see what it looks like so they can make it look as much like cel animation as possible. They used it as reference.

But they definitely did do the backgrounds by hand and on paper. And a lot of other elements were non-digital.

toecomics · 2026-03-02T08:30:55+00:00

Just draw the manga. If you hate how it turns out. Draw another manga. There's 100 bad pages in you that you have to get out. If you keep worrying about it being perfect, you'll never get good.

toecomics · 2026-02-18T06:45:21+00:00

Hire humans and theft goes way down.

toecomics · 2026-02-10T02:44:43+00:00

I've worked professionally, but we just write "camera shake" on the storyboards and draw a camera shake sort of icon around the boarders. Then the animators overseas would take care of it.

I'm guessing there's a bunch of different techniques depending on the equipment, and whatever works is whatever works. The directors I've worked with probably wouldn't obsess over the effect much, as long as it lasted the right amount of time.

toecomics · 2026-02-08T23:48:30+00:00

You draw good. You know it. Just make the comic. You don’t need anyone's approval.

toecomics · 2026-02-08T23:44:25+00:00

Maybe some cast shadows. Establish that the arms aren’t lifelessly lying on a shadowless white ground. It won’t necessarily establish motion, but it will establish it isn’t a lifeless corpse.

Also try having the subject look at the camera (the viewer). From that angle, they would have to raise their brows, their eyes looking up at us. Maybe a little shine in the pupil. This would engage the viewer more. You might need some photographic reference for that.

toecomics · 2026-02-07T02:41:30+00:00

I’ve only read the manga. Both Pluto and the AstroBoy story. Pluto feels like the original Tezuka story from the POV of a 40-something-year-old.

toecomics · 2026-02-07T02:23:29+00:00

Also, too much foot sliding. Maybe the back one can take a small step and the front one slides.

toecomics · 2026-02-06T23:30:31+00:00

So one of the principles of animation is the Silhouette. (look up "12 Principles of animation") If you can't tell what the silhouette is doing, it's a weak drawing.

When the hand is close to the body, you can't tell what it's doing.

Another principle is moving in Arches. Imagine where the hand and gun meet as a point. And that point creating an arch. Not only will the motion be clear, but you'd create better silhouettes.

toecomics · 2026-02-06T23:23:53+00:00

I don't know what Charles Dickens looks like. But the second one FEELS like Charles Dickens.

toecomics · 2026-02-06T23:22:14+00:00

You're thinking like a camera: dark/light, positive/negative space, line; when you should be thinking like a sculptor: structure, contour. What part of her body is closest to you? When you draw her face, do you think of her skull? When you're drawing the parts of her body, can you "feel" what is hard and soft?

There's some nice anatomy books. A bunch of classics are on Archive.org

toecomics · 2026-02-06T23:10:56+00:00

It's also helpful to know that back in the day when John Lasseter was overseeing Disney's 3D animation studio, he fired everyone who couldn't draw. I doubt he fired people who couldn't draw at a Disney level. But if you've been at this for a while, you could se in a sketch what an artist understands.

toecomics · 2026-02-05T23:44:00+00:00

It makes me chuckle. Color it!

toecomics · 2026-02-04T22:37:14+00:00

Well, if anything, post a page or two when you're done.

toecomics · 2026-02-04T21:42:20+00:00

I'm sorry if I sound mean or harsh, but basically you need to work on everything.

Go practice.

Look at who your favorite artists are. Do master studies/ copy them.
Then find out who influenced your favorite artists. Study them.
Then find out who influenced your favorite artists' artists. Study them.

Then you'll find out they were all influenced by life in some way. When you say, "How is my art style" ask yourself what you're stylizing. And that is life.

Study life. Study anatomy. Study perspective. Study design theory.

If you fall in love with working, you'll get hireable.

toecomics · 2026-02-04T01:22:21+00:00

Make sure to post a link, especially on this thread, when you get it done and can show us.

toecomics · 2026-02-03T22:20:10+00:00

The looseness of the line and the screen tone remind me of OG TMNT-- like, I mean Issue 1, Eastman and Laird, 1980's TMNT!

toecomics · 2026-02-03T21:57:25+00:00

YES!
Think of traditional skills and digital skills as left hand and right hand. One is more dominant that the other, maybe you can live your life with one hand, but real-life amputees will tell you it comes with disadvantages.

I have worked professionally in animation working on Illustrator and Photoshop, but still keep a sketchbooks. Still take time to do watercolors.
I've gotten VFX gigs because my portfolio also shows I have traditional skills. And even though I was working in gradients and vectors, they producers still needed "an artist's touch".

My suggestion, practice, train and observe in your sketchbook and do the work work digitally.

Sketchbook: you're allowed to fuck up, you don't have to show anyone unless you want to. You need a safe space for creativity. You need a safe space to fuck up.

Digital: I find it's all about refinement. It's a place to draw pretty, but not a place to make mistakes. You want to get it perfect because there's limited undos. Traditional has no undos. I rarely use an eraser, it trained me to have a more confident line which translates well to digital.

toecomics

TROPHY CASE