Comments on: @Animpodcast on Twitter and #Animtip Tuesdays

By: Jam

Jam — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:45:55 +0000

Any new interviews Clay? It’s been a while! I missed the podcast.

By: jp

jp — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 01:26:37 +0000

omg.. not freaking twitter. why? WHY??

By: charlie

charlie — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:28:00 +0000

hey clay how are you i have been listening to all of your podcast’s over and over and over they are great, sometimes i cannot fall asleep because is just so interesting to listen to the masters talk about animation, i hope to hear some more pod casts soon. i was reading through one of your posts and you recommend to seek out a mentor or to have one’s work critiqued by someone you really respect…. but how exactly do you do that? i am a pharmacy technician by trade but i love animation, i took a weekend animation class at the union and loved it and i have bought all the great animation books but my only critique at home is my wife and of course she thinks all my work is great. well i know you have heard this a bagillion times but keep up the good work. thanks

By: katakam

katakam — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:24:55 +0000

animation

By: katakam

katakam — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:24:16 +0000

animatin

By: Clay

Clay — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 07:13:52 +0000

Derek – I still struggle with drawing, but I remind myself that no one started as a great artist. Even the greats knew nothing at some point. The good news is that you’re still fairly young and you have time (an entire lifetime) to improve.

I suggest taking some figure drawing classes to learn about anatomy. They should be easy for anyone to find since there are artists everywhere.

Second, carry a sketchbook and use it! Make goals to fill them up as fast as you can. I’m actually very slow at this, but I keep about ten of them stashed all over the place – in the car, in my closet, at work – so that I can always grab one and go.

Draw all the time. It is the repeated practice that will get you there.

Then get some feedback on your work from people you respect and take their advice! Work on the things they suggest. I can’t stress how important it is to find mentors. Their advice will drive you forward much faster than working alone.

Find artists you admire and emulate (copy) their work, but do it in an analytic way. Ask yourself why they made their choices. Don’t just copy like a machine. Eventually, you will develop your own style – your language for how you want to present things.

Funny you should ask about books. I just updated the “Shop” link in the menubar at the top. In there, you’ll find my real recommendations for all types of books. Look under the “Art” section and you’ll find my favorites:
- The Walt Stanchfield books are a goldmine of information. They are a must have.
- For straight up “start from zero” drawing, I recommend “Drawing from the Right Side of the Brain” or “The Natural Way to Draw” (those are on page 2 of the Art books).
- The Bridgeman book is a great way to look at drawing human figures structurally.
- “The Art of Animal Drawing” is a very good overview of drawing animals by a former Disney animator.
- Although his books seem to be popular, I don’t like Burne Hogarth’s books. I think his drawing style is pretty gross and so I don’t list any in my recommendations. Only look at good stuff, I say!

My method to improve was to draw EVERY DAY! Honestly, that’s what I did. I found every drawing class I could take and I did lots of animation tests on paper. Draw, draw, DRAW! And get critique from people who know what they’re talking about.

By: Derek Bradley

Derek Bradley — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:15:29 +0000

Hey Clay, I had a question. I’m 15 years old and I’d love to work as an animator at Disney Animation Studios. The problem is that I am not great at drawing and in your bio you said the same about yourself. I was wondering how you improved enough to get a job at Disney and I’d like advice on how I can do the same. Also, if there are any specific books you recommend for this, it would be much appreciated. Thanks.

By: Clay

Clay — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:17:21 +0000

Thanks Mark. I also have that search as a link in the original post above. I edited the paragraph to make it more visible.

By: Mark DeRidder

Mark DeRidder — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 13:47:21 +0000

Hey Kelseigh, you don’t need to install anything with twitter, and you don’t even need to sign up to enjoy this. Just go to twitter.com and search #animtip whenever you want a does of inspiration/guidance.

It has been a very useful resource. I love Animtip Tuesdays!

By: Kelseigh

Kelseigh — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:57:42 +0000

Thanks very much for the feed, I do appreciate it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work for my reader, so I guess I’m going to have to bite the bullet and install yet another client on my machine. Oh, well, could be worse.