Another Pencil Test

Here's a cruddy little piece of animation. I'm going to keep adding to it, there's a reason he starts out in that awkward position. I just haven't drawn it yet. I've still got a couple more drawings to add to this bit also. I'm a little bit happy with the few frames of smear drawings. I've been freeze framing Bobo Cannon's animation in some of Chuck Jones' shorts, especially "Dover Boys" and it's starting to sink in. Yes, I know it looks like a poor man's excuse for Tex Avery's wolf. I think I study Louis Schmitt's model sheets too much. The drawing above is probably the best of the bunch. Too bad it only lasted two frames.

Girly Drawings

I'm still trying to get a handle on drawing cartoony women so I've been practicing from some of the artists on Shane Gline's Cartoon Retro. I'm studying from the drawings of Fantasio, Pepo and some more from Owen Fitzgerald. Some of the South American artists on his site are mindblowing. I spent time working on different parts of the body, now if only I can start to combine them all.

Fantasio Studies

Pepo Studies

Pepo/Bob Tupper Studies

Owen Fitzgerald Studies

Preston Blair/Model Sheets

Run Cycle-Revised

So I gave that dog another go at a run cycle except this time I tried it more along the lines of a Hanna Barbera limited animation cartoon. I've been watching the Huckleberry Hound DVD a lot this past week (my son's latest discovery) so I thought that might be fun. It was actually very helpful. I learned a lot from just this crappy cycle and I think it's going to help when I give it a go again using fuller animation. The first part is on twos and the second on ones. I can only assume H-B did it the same way. Just take a walk or run and pull out some frames. Real cheap time saving stuff.

Run Cycle-Work In Progress

Here's another crappy pencil test. This is a work in progress, I'm going to have him do more than run, I just haven't had the time to finish it today. I'll try and finish it up by the end of the week. I added music (again). I think it's a nice way to distract from the overall crappiness of it. In case anyone is curious the song is "Grab The Deed", written by Marvin Hatley and recorded by the Beau Hunks. They recorded five albums (I think) of music from the Hal Roach comedies. I very highly recommend anything that they've released. They're album "Contrasts" has a great cartoony album cover and the recorded a version of "Manhattan Serenade" using Scott Bradley's arrangement, among other great songs.

Beau Hunks-"Contrasts" (cool, ain't it?)

Dog - Run Cycle
Uploaded by klangley

Practice, Practice, Practice

Here's some more model sheet drawings from last night. I tried to just glance at the model sheets and the underlying construction and then go back and fill in the details. I was trying to build upon the various shapes rather than stare at the model sheets and try to copy them perfectly. Looking at Lulu I though she'd be easy to draw but I had a hard time with her. Much harder than the comic book version. At least for me it is. And yes, that's Gabby. He's annoying but surprisingly fun to draw.