hey so, i really dig this particular style of animation but I donât know what itâs called:
thicker lineart but with obvious weight, interesting usage of curves and angles
characters are fairly colorful but itâs more muted and retro-style, it blends with the background. sometimes colors are even more stylized for effect depending on the scenes, overall aesthetically pleasing
its generally pretty cartoony
character designs are diverse but they all retain some sort of charm, im not sure how to describe it but theyre all pretty funky and flowy and i really like that
usually big, oval-shaped, expressive as FUCK eyes
animation itself is pretty smooth and stretchy, usually traditionally animated. lots of facial expressions, very fun to look at
i know for a fact that not every early 2000s cartoon had this style but i really like it, idk if theres a specific name for it.Â
The style is based off of the UPA style revival kicked off in the 90s. UPA was popular with early television animation in the 50s because the more simplistic style was cheaper to produce as well as aesthetically pleasing, cartoons like Ren & Stimpy brought it back from the dead as retro cool.
This is my personal favorite style
This style seriously needs a comeback. And Iâm not just saying that because it was probably the most influential to me.
Posing is a word that brings to mind picking up a toy to arrange its limbs into a certain position, or asking a fashion model to stand in a way that shows off all their clothes, etc. Ultimately, itâs a very stiff and lifeless word about putting something into a static position, and itâs not how Iâd recommend approaching your art!
Instead you want to think about how your subjects are acting - theyâre living, breathing characters, and youâre just catching a snapshot of them while they are doing something. The image youâre drawing may be still, but the character inside it is not.
This is especially important in comics and sequential media, but even in a single image you want to think about what your subject is doing, how theyâre feeling, and how you want to convey this.
Consider your characterâs body language, and when drawing a conversation think about how your character gesticulates.
Itâs not uncommon in animation to get up and physically act out what you want to animate. Itâs good practice, itâs easier to understand what youâre drawing if you do it yourself!
I recommend studying films and paying close attention to how the characters are acting. try watching a single scene a few times, and watch how the characters express themselves.
For example, watch this clip from kung fu panda 3!
Itâs just 12 seconds, but pay attention to how the characters act. If I were to make this into a comic page itâd probably look something like this:
Do you see how the charactersâ acting informs the still poses :?
Itâs like those expression memes, but instead youâre focusing on the whole figure!
Also, when thinking about your charactersâ acting, donât forget about how they might interact with props or things in their environment!
Part of the problem might be that they donât feel grounded in the scene, leading you to feel like something is lacking. Roger rabbit is a fantastic example of how to ground characters in an environment:
The toons obviously arenât real, but they feel like theyâre tangible and inside the scene because they pick up props, physically interact with people, smash into tables, and just generally leave a real impact on the world around them.
Try remember to show how your characters are interacting with the things around them to really sell their acting! Best of luck, I hope this helps!!
I dont do much :P 23đ°This is just a fun blog were I reblog stuff I like no real direction, mabey you'll find stuff you like mabey you won't who knows! life is full of mysteries so you might as well just stick around ;)
