I was talking with some pals last night, and Mike told me that he got better at drawing by staring at this image until he “understood it.” (from Eric Goldberg’s “Character Animation Crash Course”)

The first image is drawing anatomical/construction first, gesture second. The second image is drawing the gesture/expression first, then the anatomy second. The first image produces stiff character acting, the second image produces explosive character acting.

Jolene (33 R.P.M) - click for .mp3

Unsure where this came from, if not the palsied hands of the good Lord himself.

Simple premise: Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” slipped from 45 to 33 rpm. Nothing more; no studio trickery, no trip hop drum breaks. The guitar lopes back in and around itself. The bass becomes elastic, hot rubber. The violin stabs become sustained cello lines. The backing choir’s split harmony rattles around, slinking ghostly into the corner.  And most importantly, Parton’s once-frantic vocal is transformed from bubblegum country scrawl into something approximating field holler reverence.