Gesture Drawing for Animation Walt Stanchfield Edited by Leo Brodie ii Walt Stanchfield This compilation is not copyrighted or protected in any way by the editor of the compilation (Leo Brodie). It is based on a series of un-copyrighted class notes written by animation instructor Walt Stanchfield during the period roughly from 1970 to 1990. Since then, these class handouts have been widely copied and shared amongst animation students and members of the animation industry with Mr. Stanchfield's blessing and encouragement; in that spirit, the handouts are now available freely on the Internet. Some of the illustrations in this book represent preliminary drawings of cartoon characters that are the properties of their respective copyright holder(s) and are therefore protected by copyright. These illustrations were part of the original handouts and are included here for educational purposes to illustrate specific principles of animation technique. No endorsement of this book by the copyright holder(s) is implied, nor do the views expressed in this book necessary reflect those of the copyright holders(s). I hope that covers it. Gesture Drawing for Animation iii Table of Contents Chapter 1: Go for the Truth .........................................................................................2 Observe, Observe, Observe..........................................................................................2 Lead to the Emotion.....................................................................................................4 Give Them the Experience...........................................................................................5 The Driving Force behind the Action ..........................................................................5 Gesture .........................................................................................................................9 The Essence ...............................................................................................................10 Go For The Truth!......................................................................................................13 Chapter 2: The Animator's Sketchbook....................................................................13 Everywhere You Go ..................................................................................................17 Composition...............................................................................................................17 Ron Husband's Sketchbook .......................................................................................21 Note Taking and Sketching........................................................................................27 Good Habits ...............................................................................................................32 Chapter 3: A Visual Vocabulary for Drawing ..........................................................31 Lines, Lines, Lines.....................................................................................................31 A Simple Approach to Drawing ................................................................................31 A Simple Approach to Drawing ................................................................................32 Finding the Abstract...................................................................................................32 The Solid-Flexible Model..........................................................................................32 Figure Sketching for Animation ................................................................................32 The Pipe Model..........................................................................................................33 Seeing in Three Dimensions ......................................................................................34 The Rules of Perspective ...........................................................................................34 Direction ....................................................................................................................36 Problems of Drawing in Line.....................................................................................36 Simplifying Heads .....................................................................................................37 Caricatured Head Shapes ...........................................................................................37 The Head in Gesture ..................................................................................................38 A Simple Approach to Costumes and Drapery..........................................................38 Chapter 4: The First Impression................................................................................71 Short-pose Sketching .................................................................................................71 Superficial Appearance vs. Creative Portrayal ..........................................................71 A New Phrase: “Body Syntax”..................................................................................72 The "Explosive" Gesture............................................................................................72 Feel, As Well As See, the Gesture.............................................................................76 Draw Verbs, Not Nouns.............................................................................................77 Draw with a Purpose..................................................................................................77 Dividing the Body into Units.....................................................................................78 "Knowing" or Searching............................................................................................79 Simplicity for the Sake of Clarity ..............................................................................79 Chapter 5: Elements of the Pose.................................................................................85 Angles and Tension....................................................................................................88 Applying Angles and Tension in Our Drawings........................................................92 iv Walt Stanchfield Tennis and Angles......................................................................................................98 Straight against Curve: Squash and Stretch in the Pose ..........................................101 Applying Perspective...............................................................................................103 The Sensation of Space............................................................................................105 Recreating the First Impression ...............................................................................109 Putting the Elements of a Pose Together .................................................................112 Habits to Avoid........................................................................................................118 It Ain’t Easy.............................................................................................................121 Chapter 6: Pushing the Gesture ...............................................................................119 Drawing Gesture from the Model............................................................................120 Stick to the Theme ...................................................................................................120 Subtlety ....................................................................................................................123 Pushing the Gesture .................................................................................................124 Gesture to Portray an Action or a Mood..................................................................124 Action Analysis: Hands & Feet ...............................................................................125 Learn to Cheat..........................................................................................................125 Lazy Lines................................................................................................................125 Double Vision ..........................................................................................................125 Caricature.................................................................................................................125 Chapter 7: Principles of Animation .........................................................................153 Drawing Principles...................................................................................................153 28 Principles of Animation ......................................................................................154 Drawing Calories .....................................................................................................154 The Pose Is an Extreme............................................................................................154 Animating Squash and Stretch.................................................................................154 The Opposing Force.................................................................................................154 Connecting Actions..................................................................................................157 Inbetweening............................................................................................................158