help-me-draw

When I was in school and wanted to work in animation, there was very little information about how cartoons are actually made. Even my professors at college knew very little about the industry as it is today. I’m sure it would’ve been better to study somewhere in California (like CalArts) to be better informed about this stuff, but I didn’t have that opportunity.

Nowadays, many kids in school have a dream career that they don’t really know much about. There’s a lot of missing bits of information and a lot of straight up lies that get circulated as fact as people try to scramble to put the pieces together on how cartoons for television are actually made.

I’ve been storyboarding for television for a while now, and there still aren’t clear resources for those wanting to get into the industry. I wanted to make the basics available to everyone, so here’s a quick rundown through the TV pipeline. Please note: all studios and productions are different. Even cartoons made within the same studio could have wildly different production guidelines. This is not a concrete explanation of how every cartoon is made; this is simply a generalized look at the “typical” television pipeline.

**DISCLAIMER** All images in this post have been sourced from blogs, twitters, scribd and flickr pages are publicly available, and no internal studio materials have been used that have not been already published publicly online. This post is influenced heavily by my own individual experience, as well as friends’. 

With that said, this might be a lengthy read, so let’s go!

i get a lot of asks from people who ask me if they should go to art school and my answer is always just “hell no no”, so i think i will make this my master Don’t Go to Art School post.

ok here’s the bottom line: just don’t go to art school. don’t go!! don’t go to any accredited art school!! unless you have a full ride scholarship or close to it, don’t go!! literally every working professional i have met since graduating a year ago has agreed with me. we love to get together and bitch about how art school is a waste of time and money.

an education at art center will cost you about $200,000 in tuition alone. lcad isn’t much better and runs about $120,000. during my time at art center, i had a scholarship and help from my parents and i still owe $30,000 in student loans.

and honestly art center didn’t help me get the job i have today. literally all it did for me was introduce me to talented and friendly people who are willing to extend a hand to help each other out in the field. but making friends shouldn’t have to cost you $200,000 lmaooooooo.

here’s my super simple guide to getting a job in animation:

1. move to L.A. this is non-negotiable. all the studios are here. i’ve had uber drivers that have studio hookups and i’ve been offered jobs just sitting in a cafe in burbank and drawing. just existing in the epicenter of animation is an advantage.

2. welcome to L.A! it’s really hot here but i hope you enjoy it. now that you’re here, let’s not go to art school.

3. here are some much cheaper options:

http://2d.cgmasteracademy.com/

http://conceptdesignacad.com/

https://animationguild.org/about-the-guild/education/

https://www.schoolism.com/school.php

https://www.facebook.com/WillB.Weston?fref=ts (one of my old teachers from art center teaches a ton of workshops and classes all around town

and if you absolutely insist on going to some kind of 4 year college-like thing, try http://laafa.org/. it is about a quarter of the cost of art center, which is still pretty steep imo, but is just as good.

4. i’m even going to give you a cheat guide on what you should study (all of this you can find online for free btw!! just google it!! damn just try pinterest even!! or buy a book!!), based on what i studied at art center. design, composition, perspective, anatomy, color theory, costume design, light logic, visual storytelling, character design, character acting, storyboarding, prop design, background design, environment painting, style development. there ya go that’s all you need to know.

5. lock yourself in a studio apartment for 4 years and practice all the above everyday.

6. study the work of artists working in the field that you admire. do what they do, then put your own heart into it. make work relevant to the industry today. know what your goal is. like literally, having access to soooo much artwork from working professionals on a daily basis is almost like cheating.

7. http://centerstagegallery.com/csg/csg-sketch-group/ and http://www.thedrawingclub.com/ go here and draw when you have free time. make friends with other artists. join a plein air painting club, or do a workshop, or ask for a mentorship. talk to people in the field!! make friends!!

8. make really good work and put it online. everywhere. share it!! have a website! contact recruiters! contact studios you like and ask them when they have internships open!

9. go to CTN every year and bring your portfolio. sign up for portfolio reviews. bring cards with you. ask the recruiters about internships.

10. congrats u now have a pretty good chance of getting a career in animation and u didn’t spend $200,000 for it.

i may sound bitter and jaded about art school (and maybe i am……..a little…….) but honestly i’m way more excited because after a year of working in the industry and meeting people who either didn’t go to art school or went to shitty no-name schools, i am super passionate about the fact that we live in a day and age where anyone who’s willing to put the work in and discipline themselves can develop the skills to become a professional artist without going to school. art is for everyone!! not just people who can afford school! art is fun! and great! and i want everyone who is passionate about it to succeed and not let the obstacle of $$$$$ stonewall them out of a career they’ll love!

Some sample pages from Andrew Loomis’s series on how to draw comics, 1939-1961, concerning perspective and composition. (The changes in font and layout stem from the fact the pages come from different prints.)

I tried to collect the most useful pages, but of course I’m limited to only 10 images per post.

Anatomy tip weekly! :)

This week I’ve prepared something for people who sometimes are confused how to start drawing. Instead of starting with head, start with torso.

A coolio fuck-ton of female arm angle references.

For many women in animation, it comes as no surprise that there are men like Chris Savino [The Loud House] and Skyler Page [Clarence] in the workplace. Breaking news suggests even executives as high as John Lasseter are not immune. What is perhaps more of a surprise, particularly to young women first entering animation, is how rarely discussed handling such situations effectively and tactfully is.

Few are aware of the rights they are entitled to or who to address for support. This lack of information coupled with the majority fearing being blacklisted for calling attention to sexual harassment in the workplace effectively creates an overwhelming and unrealistic effect of silence.

In this guide, we will outline preliminary techniques for those experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. While many of this may also apply outside the United States, the information is predominantly geared towards our legal system. This guide will be updated with more resources as time permits.

Disclaimer: None of these points are meant to suggest, advocate, endorse, or recommend any particular or appropriate course of legal action. Please consult an attorney if you have a situation you need assistance with.

ambient lighting (in 2d/3d art) is the kind of lighting where the light source isn’t super defined! most of the time that causes shadows to be really soft and subtle

(good examples of ambient lighting would be the lighting on an overcast day, or on digital 3d stuff when there’s no accent lighting)

i think it works really well as a base! in my painting processes, i like to get the ambient lighting down first so i can have the structures and forms of the stuff i’m painting before i put in the hard shadows and highlights.