Tuesday, December 05, 2006

:: what a TOOL ::

hey i've been posting a lot! it makes me feel like i'm getting crap done! this morning i thumbnailed the first 2 scenes of my picture [i like sayin picture, it sounds less pretentious than film...and more old timey]. i'll clean up some panels and put em up!

and it's called paper al, i think the egyptians invented it recently? i can't remember. i got a newer tablet but i still feel like i can deal with paper better!

i'd been using this ticonderoga blue pencil you can get at staples for sketching, but when i got to the light table, the lead was way too hard and i couldn't see the drawings underneath [maybe i should buy real animation paper, but i won't be able to fit that in a bulk scanner for testing...] i switched back to col erase and now i'm working with a plain old graphite 2HB because i can draw faster with the softer lead it seems. is that something you guys find useful too? i found these bob camp animation notes on goober sleave's blog [kevin langley] and it looks like he uses a really soft lead in the sketches. it's a lot of the preston blair stuff condensed, with a couple other concepts. here's a link to kevin's post with the notes:

bob camp animation notes

i think team katbot had mentioned having some similar notes passed on to them from destefano? my envy for team katbot still knows no bounds!

4 comments:

Peter said...

is animation paper a lighter weight than plain copy paper? If so, what weight is the paper you're currently using (in pounds, it should say on the ream package). I'm going to be headed back to xpedx in the Roc since I ordered a box of grey envelopes. I can see if they stock lighter than 24lb (or whatever you're using) copy paper for cheap.

Keep up the posting homes!

Dan said...

yo man...

been a while...looking forward to seeing some sweet animation on the blog soon...but just to respond to your supply ??s go to lightfoot or cartoon supplies.com....you can get 8x10 sized animation paper....for bulk sscannin....they rape ya for 10 bucks a reem pre punched...but i think its worth it....

also i ahve to agree the softer the lead trhe better ,.,,,im actually using .9mm 2b lead for my mechanical pencil....i like th mechanical pencil cause i go overboard, so if my point gets too dull with a regular wood, i end up loosing my drawing....

MikeD said...

I animate really rough in orange Col-Erase as I block in my drawings, and then go back and quickly pick out my lines with a black Faber-Castel Polychromos pencil. The Polychromos are silky smooth and give a rich black line that hardly smudges yet is still erasable. When I shoot my pencil tests, the orange all but drops out with the black and white camera I use to shoot the tests.
MikeD

sdestefano said...

kids,
seriously, try a 4,5 or 6B graphite pencil.
Go way dark. It'll smudge, but your point is to get as much fluidity in your hand as possible. And you'll clean your drawings up anyway.
Story about Bob Camp and a #2 pencil:
I was in Bob's office, he had an idea, needed to get it out quick. He picked up a pencil and started drawing furiously. "What the fuck is this?", he says, suddendly looking at the pencil. Utterly disgusted, he shouts, "A number Two?!? That's like drawing with a fucking stick!!", then flings the pencil across the room.
And, while I did bring much Spumco and Games reference into Katbot, I believe it was one of the layout crew that brought Bob's animation notes into the studio. He'd done them for a lecture at SVA, and one of the alumni present scarfed copies.