Me and My Cintiq

An experimental animation that took only a few hours to put together. I drew the frames using Sketchbook Pro on the iPad, then imported them through iPhoto onto my iMac, then composited and added music in After Effects.

I have a short film I'd like to do using this production style, and am currently researching funding. I'll let you know how it goes.

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The New Ron Burgandy

2010-07-09T10:57:00.001-07:00

via twitpic.com

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The Computer vs. Paper in Animation Production

2010-06-18T09:14:00.001-07:00

While we were working on ‘Three Wombats’ my colorist asked why we weren’t doing everything on paper. ‘Wouldn’t it be faster?’ she asked. My first thought was ‘heck no!’ but after thinking through the entire process, using a simple pencil and reams of paper might not be so implausible after all.

Put the Pencil to the Paper

Back when animation first began, obviously everything was done on paper. It was extremely labor-intensive often taking years to complete one film. The overall process was relatively simple – a group of people would draw the frames, another group would clean everything up into nice neat lines, then the ‘ink and paint girls’ would add color, and finally the cameraman would shoot each frame, one at a time. No too complicated, but oh, it took a long time! It took 300 people 3 years to make Disney’s ‘Snow White’. Not surprising as there were over 60,000 individual frames!

“I (heart) my Apple”

When computers arrived on the scene, most people were using them as huge fancy calculators. It wasn’t until 1961 that MIT student Ivan Sutherland developed the first computer drawing program called ‘Sketchpad’. Since then, computers have played a monumental role in the development of animation – both 2D and 3D alike. Computers potentially enable the production process to move much quicker, with greater flexibility for edits.

Pencil Pros

There’s no software or technology to learn: You can get started animating right this minute, with no other skills (other than being able to draw, of course!).

The supplies are easily accessible: You can get paper, pencils, ink, paint, etc. all from your local convenient store. It should be said, though, that most traditional animators use pegged paper to help keep all the sheets in proper register. But, with a three-hole punch and the back of an old three ring binder, you’re right in business!

Crayon Cons

It takes a VERY long time: When you have to draw, cleanup, paint and shoot every frame it can take years to complete one project. Think of every frame as a complete ‘painting’ or illustration in it’s own right. Most animated films run at 12 frames per second – meaning for every minute of film you see, 720 individual ‘paintings’ had to be created.

Difficult to Edit: With a traditional style animation, it can take weeks in order to see how something turned out. And if it isn’t right? Well, then it’s literally ‘back to the drawing board’ for a complete recreation of the scene.

Digital Delights

It’s quick and easy to replay a scene and make corrections if needed: With everything right on the computer, creating the frames and playing back your work is a breeze in a variety of software applications. If any changes need to be made, they can be done immediately, right on the computer, saving valuable production time. This is actually a HUGE benefit and is the number one reason why most animation is digital today.

You save the rainforests: Creating animation on paper uses up a precious planetary resource – trees! Moving to a completely digital workflow just makes ecological sense.

Tech Torments

Computer Systems can be VERY expensive: If you were to ‘trick out’ your workspace with the latest animation software applications and the hardware to run them, it would cost you well into the range of $10,000 and up. You also need to know a bit about what the system can do – processing speeds, memory, and especially graphics cards – to make the best economic choices.

The ‘learning curve’ can be steep: Unless you have previous experience with digital editing, learning how to work in a ‘timeline’ and setting ‘keyframes’ can be a bit confusing at first. It usually takes a few weeks of diligent use to really get a grasp of some of the programs (but of course, it’s well worth the effort!).

The Computer vs. Paper in Animation Production

2010-06-15T23:22:00.001-07:00

Put the Pencil to the Paper

“I (heart) my Apple”

Pencil Pros

There’s no software or technology to learn: You can get started animating right this minute, with no other skills (other than being able to draw, of course!).

Crayon Cons

Digital Delights

You save the rainforests: Creating animation on paper uses up a precious planetary resource – trees! Moving to a completely digital workflow just makes ecological sense.

Tech Torments

My Dogs Are So Photogenic!

2010-06-04T11:06:00.001-07:00

Seymore thinks he's a model. And he looks like one, too. All skinny - eat something for cryin' out loud!

Not to be outdone but her brat baby brother, Peanut flashes her classic heartwarming smile.
(No, this is NOT Photoshopped! It came straight from my iPhone - with only minor color adjustments.)

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Website Updated

2010-05-30T21:31:00.001-07:00

Hey, did you see that we updated our website? Take a look!

http://www.kris10cartoons.com

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Vitamin Z: Alligator Teeth

2010-05-27T21:47:00.001-07:00

via youtube.com

An animation for the Detroit Zoo

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RSA Animate - The Empathic Civilisation

2010-05-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Animation Math

2010-05-18T12:44:00.001-07:00

A motion spans btwn keyframes 58 - 180. Where would u put keyframes 2,3, & 4 to split it into 4 sub-sections?

(and who said artists don't need to know math!)

1 - subtract 58 from 180 to find the total amount of frames in the motion

180-58 = 122

2 - divide by 2 to get the halfway point

122/2 = 61

3 - divide again to get the quarter points

61/2 = 30.5

4 - add numbers to your keyframe timeline -

A - 58 (start)

B - 58 + 30.5 = 88.5 (89)

C - 58 + 61 = 119

D - 58 + 61 + 30.5 = 149.5 (150)

E - 180 (end)

Happy animating!

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Behind The Scenes - Animating Wombats

2010-05-07T15:03:00.001-07:00

Watch, Rate, Fave, and Share 'Three Wombats' on Aniboom

Wombats really aren't that hard to animate. It's just VERY VERY time consuming.

STORYBOARDS

Everything starts with the storyboards (that is, after a draft of the script is written, of course). The drawings themselves don't have to be perfect, but it helps. The real focus should be on making all the creative decisions. How the characters move, how does the camera move, what is the basic idea behind each scene, etc. Storyboards can end up looking sort of like a comic book version of the movie.

AUDIO

Right after Dan Belleville and I decided on the story (which he wrote), he went off to his little cave and started noodling around with music - a bassoon to be precise. I loved the idea of using an instrument that was a little out of the ordinary, like our wombats. And besides, the sound complimented the cute, round, simple wombats.

I emailed the script to Oliver Darrow, and he was excited to be on board from the start that he recorded a scratch track for us right then and there. Later, we had him over to the house, and recorded the track right in our living room. We used a ZoomH4N recorder and an AKG C-2000 B condenser mic.

Watch the behind the scenes video of Oliver doing his thing here.

ANIMATIC

I've heard that a lot of animators skip this step, but I do one for every production - even the short little ones. Mostly because I get too impatient. I want to watch the cartoon as soon as possible.

All I did was take the storyboards, Dan's music, and Oliver's scratch track (the final audio mix was in Soundtrack) and match everything up in After Effects. I could have used Final Cut, or Premier, but I knew I was going to do the final edit in AE. Doing it this way saved us time during the '11th hour' because all I had to do was replace each storyboard frame with a nested animated sequence.

You can see the animatic posted up on Vimeo here.

KEYFRAMES & TWEENING

All done in Photoshop using the 'Animation' pallet, by creating an empty video layer. The process for any 'cell' animation like this is to create the keyframes first. Those are the 'extreme' frames, and any other other frame helpful for timing. Then, you go back and do the 'tweening' - draw the in between frames, between your keyframes. A lot of apps do the tweening for you, but in order to get the old school feel, we had to do it by hand.

COLORING

After I got a few of the scenes drawn out, Kassandra Fry (recent grad from College for Creative Studies) came by to color in the frames - a thankless task that helped me out TREMENDOUSLY. She really saved our butts on this one - if it wasn't for her help, we never would have gotten this done on time.

So, what she did was create a new blank video layer in the same PSD files in which I drew the frames. And then she painted using the standard tools in Photoshop - she didn't even have to stay in the lines. Simple yes, but again, VERY VERY time consuming. We all had achey backs when it was all over.

EDITING

First, we had to get the colored frames out of PSD. There's an export option in the file menu of PSD, so we just used that to kick out individual png files, imported them into AE into timelines based on scene number and bear number, then used the keyframe assistant to sequence everything. Pretty simple, once you do it a couple times.

Because I had done the animatic in AE, all I had to do was to bring the frame sequences into my main timeline and voila - we had an animation. A little bit of color tweaking here, a little audio adjustment there and we were rolling on the export.

That's all there is to it. Frame animation is actually pretty simple, but just takes a long time to do. We had a great time doing it, and I hope you watch, rate, fave and share our 'master piece' so we can get to Sesame Street!! (and so Dan can get a blender)

05/07/10

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This is Seymore. He is John's dog.

2010-05-06T21:04:00.001-07:00

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Behind the Scenes - How you get to Wombats

2010-05-03T21:53:00.001-07:00

Watch, Rank, Fave, and Share 'Three Wombats' on Aniboom

I have to admit, I had no idea we were going to make wombats. It was all Dan's idea. But, if he hadn't come up with it, we never would have gotten off the ground.

I had heard of the Aniboom / Sesame Street Animation Competition back in March, but honestly was so intimidated by the idea of working for my 'white whale' that I couldn't settle on one story and move forward. In the midst of weeks of research, Dan Belleville came to me wondering if we were working on any projects he could write music for. I told him what I was laboring over, and asked if he could come up with some lyrics or something to help us get started.

6 hours later we had wombats.

Wombats were perfect. They weren't the traditional 'barnyard' animal (I'm reminded of the Simpson's episode where Lisa is showing animal flash cards to Maggie). They were cute and cuddly, yes, but different enough to make our animation stand out from the hundreds of other submissions.

I started developing the character designs right away and Dan began fiddling with the bassoon (another winning choice!) to see what we could get. That was around April 14th. I forwarded the 'script' off to the infamous Oliver Darrow and he said he would be happy to be a part of our little project. Oliver came over around the 20th to record the track, and we were off and running, with Kassandra Fry (College for Creative Studies grad) working crazy hours at our kitchen table.

We settled on the concept by on the 11th, tracked on the 20th, and uploaded at midnight on the 26th. All in all, we got everything done in two weeks - an IMPOSSIBLE time frame I wish never to repeat.

05/04/10

Up next: 'The production process.' or 'How to really piss off your friends when your stressed out'

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Happy Birthday Baby Wombat (@wombat) #twitdrawing

2010-05-02T22:08:00.001-07:00

Special TwitDrawing for a brand new baby! Congrats, @wombat, and thanks for the RT!

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Getting Wombats to Sesame Street, via WXYZ

2010-05-01T13:10:00.001-07:00

Earlier this week, I posted an animation up onto Aniboom as a submission to their recent contest. If you follow me on Twitter (@sknygrydg07) or Facebook I'm sure you've heard about it.

The contest is an animation competition to work for Sesame Street. The most popular animations receive $5,000 and are reviewed by a panel of judges - including Dr. Horrible himself, Neil Patrick Harris. The judges then select the grand prize winner, who receives another $5,000 and the opportunity to work on future animations with Sesame Street.

The day after our 'Three Wombats' animation was up, we hit #2 in the ranks! I was amazed, to say the least. We spread the word around and my good friend, Stephen Clark at WXYZ Detroit heard about what was going on. So, we did a little Skype interview, and our story was broadcast on Friday on the 7:00 news. You can see the story here.

I am so overwhelmed by the showing of support from not only our friends and family, but the community at large. It's like everyone needs something to get behind these days, the 'underdog' to root for, and this is a good a story as any. All my life I've wanted to work for Sesame Street, and it looks like now might be my chance. Thanks to all the people who like Sesame Street, and wombats.

Watch, Rate, Fave and Share our animation submission 'Three Wombats' to the Aniboom Awards for Sesame Street:

http://www.aniboom.com/animation-video/439585/Three-Wombats/

And thank you, for your support!

05/01/10

Coming Up: Ever wonder how animation is made? Next blog post, behind the scenes of 'Three Wombats' and the team that put it all together - in under 2 weeks!

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Watch Three Wombats animated video on aniboom

2010-05-01T12:16:00.001-07:00

via aniboom.com

Watch, Rate, Fave and Share! Help us get these Wombats to Sesame Street!

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Watch Three Wombats animated video on aniboom

2010-04-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

Watch Three Wombats animated video on aniboom

So, this is our entry to the Aniboom Sesame Street animation contest. It was a lot of hard work, and actually hit #2 the second day it was posted! But it's been fun just to be a part of the competition. It it weren't for Aniboom, I never would have gotten this close to Sesame Street - the 'white whale' of my career.

Watch for future posts of the production process, and the ins and outs of online promotion - which we're learning one day at a time!

Click, watch, rate and share!

04/30/10

Classic game icons invade New York! - pourmecoffee

2010-04-13T08:48:00.001-07:00

via pourmecoffee.posterous.com

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Character Dev in Illustrator - Igor

2010-03-26T11:02:00.001-07:00

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Sitting Guy

2010-03-23T07:13:00.001-07:00

one of the characters that didn't make the cut to the homepage of the website

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Illustration Portfolio 03/2010

2010-03-20T09:10:00.001-07:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T15:07:00.001-07:00

Download now or watch on posterous

UniPatsDay.mov (3614 KB)

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Steampunk Animation Screen Test

2010-03-13T19:54:00.001-08:00

via vimeo.com

Reposted because Posterous wanted you to download it to see it.

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Crazy Happy Baby

2010-03-13T19:51:00.001-08:00

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What I've been working on all day...

2010-03-13T18:41:00.001-08:00

Sent from my iPhone

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Happy Birthday Alexis (illustration)

2010-03-10T16:20:00.001-08:00

via facebook.com

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Animation Screen Test

2010-03-09T06:48:00.001-08:00

Download now or watch on posterous

cloudScreenTest01.mov (438 KB)

Screen test for animation currently in production.

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My Robot Buddy

2010-03-05T09:07:00.001-08:00

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A Heart for Ashley

2010-03-05T09:06:00.001-08:00

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iPhone Wallpapers - 'LoveRithm' 'FriendsFlow' 'GrowingNow_Day' 'GrowingNow_Night'

2010-03-02T13:02:00.001-08:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Watercolor sketchbook 07 - iPhone wallpaper

2010-02-28T20:46:00.001-08:00

Sent from my iPhone

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Watercolor sketchbook 06 - iPhone wallpaper

2010-02-28T19:57:00.001-08:00

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Watercolor sketchbook 05 - iPhone wallpaper

2010-02-28T16:51:00.001-08:00

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Watercolor sketchbook 04

2010-02-28T13:45:00.001-08:00

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Watercolor sketchbook 03

2010-02-28T13:18:00.001-08:00

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Watercolor sketchbook 02

2010-02-27T12:32:00.001-08:00

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Watercolor sketchbook 01

2010-02-27T12:29:00.001-08:00

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@jnmiller bought this for me after we saw the behind the scenes of 'Up'

2010-02-27T10:45:00.001-08:00

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Real keys for our room! No swipy cards!

2010-02-26T22:16:00.001-08:00

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At the station taking the train to Chicago go to #POEFF

2010-02-26T10:16:00.001-08:00

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On the train - to Chicago. First stop A2! #PEOFF10

2010-02-26T10:10:00.001-08:00

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Some women get jewels - I get the cutest thumb drive in the world!!!!

2010-02-24T18:37:00.001-08:00

This is my husband's response to my crankiness. Yeah, be jealous!

Sent from my iPhone

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A snow tupe

2010-02-24T13:11:00.001-08:00

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Working on illustration for the FGP website

2010-02-22T09:18:00.001-08:00

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Snow day II - Revenge of the Fallen

2010-02-22T06:44:00.001-08:00

Now this is something that makes you sit up and take notice.

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I got voted off the island.

2010-02-18T21:11:00.001-08:00

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Storyboards for Sunday's kynetic type animation

2010-02-12T14:53:00.001-08:00

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Dino Dance

2010-02-11T15:23:00.001-08:00

I'm just getting real frustrated with my weakness in the area of perspective. This drawing is an attempt to start overcoming this shortcoming by using very traditional techniques in drawing.

The entire figure was created using cylinders, circle, and rounded cubes in black. Then when I had the basic thought, I turned the drawing upside down and created the outline in red over top the original sketch, along with some of the minor details. Then I turned it right side up again and filled in more detail and shading, converting the red line to black before exporting.

I feel that it's a step in towards the skill level I'm hoping to achieve (though it's still a hard pill to swallow that I'm working at this intermediate level at my age!).

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'One Size fits All' Illustration for client

2010-02-11T10:26:00.001-08:00

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Winter wonderland

2010-02-10T05:42:00.001-08:00

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It is kinda pretty, tho...

2010-02-09T22:05:00.001-08:00

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So, that's all she wrote! Pffft - nothing... (6:30 pm)

2010-02-09T15:36:00.001-08:00

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A little bit more, but still nothing to write home about (4:30 pm)

2010-02-09T13:39:00.001-08:00

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This is what I think of all your snow...

2010-02-09T12:40:00.001-08:00

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I think that's about we're gonna get...

2010-02-09T11:45:00.001-08:00

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Ah... I've seen worse... (12:30)

2010-02-09T09:46:00.001-08:00

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Still not TOO bad... (10:30 am)

2010-02-09T07:37:00.001-08:00

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It starts out innocent enought (8:30 am)

2010-02-09T05:41:00.001-08:00

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Welcome to Michigan

2010-02-09T05:39:00.001-08:00

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Giving away your Birthday

2010-02-01T11:14:00.001-08:00

Robyn Bomar, and event designer from Destin, FL, decided to give over her entire birthday to performing random acts of kindness. I extricated this fantastic list from her twitter feed - @mixmingleglow

So many GREAT ideas, I personal love the 'anonymous' ones. Little 'kindness bombs' waiting to be discovered.

It's so easy to get fixated on how 'different' Robyn is from us, and thereby discount our own abilities to generate a little happiness where ever we go. Read down this list, and consider it inspiration for your own random acts of kindness!

~~~~

unloaded groceries for ppl and returned carts to store. Bonus: got a hug from sweet old man

paid next 2 tolls on bridge. Toll guy said u gotta be kidding me! :)

bought $15 publix gift card, turned around & gave it to the lady in line behind me. Almost cried @ her reaction.

donuts & thank u cards to police dept

warm krispy kreme donuts to cold power crew from working on the lines

prepaid phone card (100 minutes) to homeless person

sprinkled local playground with nickels & pennies for kids to find!

fed all the meters in Destin Commons

chased a runaway bday balloon in the parking lot & returned it to it's owner

hid 3 $5 gift cards w/notes behind books @ barnes & noble

read a story to kids in the children section of Barnes & Noble...parents appreciated it more than the kids!! LOL!

took a picture of 2 tourists in front of Hard Rock Cafe

bought coffee for lady behind us in Starbucks

took Mylar balloons to sacred hospital to be distributed

dropped off art supplies to labor & delivery @ Sacred Heart hospital for Family Waiting Room

gave 8 blowpops to children on the playground (parents permission first!)

handed out 16 hot chocolates at the ice skating rink

taped $1.25 in quarters w/ a note to 3 vending machines (wow cokes are pricey theses days!!)

pumped a lady's gas so she could stay inside her warm car

left quarters @ a laundromat. Wanted to fold some clothes too but the place was empty!

gave coffee to toll bridge operator. Least appreciative of the day. Might have needed it the most.

delivered hand written cards to assisted living facility from my girls, hubby & I

delivered cookies (not homemade, but they looked pretty on the plate!) to 2 neighbors we've never met.

~~~~~

PS - check out Robyn's Facebook page! Every Tuesday Robyn posts a quick, simple tip to make your party just a little bit more special. Last weeks tip:

"Keep a can of chalkboard paint on hand (available @Walmart, craft stores, etc). A quick coat on just about anything (wooden napkin rings, small terracotta pots, sturdy cardboard pieces, glassware) will create a surface perfect for your guest's names at your next dinner party, as

...well as menu cards, kids games, and party favors!"

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Sticky Notes

2010-01-31T21:12:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

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How to create a news report.

2010-01-28T13:50:00.001-08:00

via snotr.com

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Nom Nom Nom Apple Pie!!

2010-01-24T19:20:00.001-08:00

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He's just so propper.

2010-01-16T18:24:00.001-08:00

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The Tiger and The Dog

2010-01-05T18:06:00.001-08:00

I can’t remember exactly where I found this image originally, but it really moved me as being indicative of my attitude for the upcoming year. I recreated it for this posting and some interesting details emerged while drawing.

2010 is the Chinese Year of the Tiger, I was born in the Year of the Dog. I think the imagery is pretty obvious, don’t you? I like that the dog is small, and casually riding on the tiger’s back, implying that I can succeed with the tools I already have in my possession. It’s interesting that the dog has the coloring of a raccoon on it’s face – I interpret it as a cunning ability to use whatever means at hand to accomplish your goal.

I’m not sure yet what the expression is on the tiger’s face. I tried to draw anger, maybe frustration at being controlled by the dog, but that really didn’t translate. I don’t think the dog and tiger are adversaries, but I don’t think they are accomplices. Not yet anyway, it’s only January 5^th.

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New Animation Blog!

2009-12-29T12:03:00.001-08:00

As if there aren't enough blogs about animation out there!

What makes this one a little different is that we'll be focusing on 2D animation. '2D' stands for 'two dimensional' like Bugs Bunny, or Lion King. 2D animation is traditionally hand drawn, frame by frame, in a laborious process that is incredibly time intensive. Computers and digital editing software makes the process much smoother, and not as time consuming, but it's still a labor of love.

We'll be posting updates on the business of animation - what are the big studios doing, and how are the independents surviving. Also, tips and tricks on how to make your own animated videos or films, and then how to get your work to the masses.

Join us in the fun, and we look forward to your comments, and your work!

PS: If you would like to contribute to this blog, email me - sknygrydg07@yahoo.com

Kristen

12/29/09

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V1 Pro Branded Academy Promo

2009-12-17T10:50:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

Worked like a DOG on this for a month. I think it turned out pretty well, though my original art was better. That's clients for ya - ripping the life and spirit out of your work. But, hey, I'm not complaining. This project is making for a VERY Merry Christmas!

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"Geyser" - from RubberOnion

2009-12-17T10:26:00.001-08:00

via youtube.com

comedic timing is GREAT - hope this finds it's way into the Spike and Mike Twisted Animation Festival. Do I see a new 'beavis and butthead' on the horizon?

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Emo / beatnik kat

2009-11-22T22:35:00.001-08:00

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Maestro

2009-11-21T12:40:00.001-08:00

Just noodling around today and this guy popped out of my head and onto the paper. I think he's a reflection of my humility at the thought of getting older and feeling as though I've 'missed the boat' when it comes to realizing my creative dreams. I've never gone to art college, never had any animation classes, only basic drawing classes - and now it feels like it's all too late. So, he came out to put a 'face' to my feelings.

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How to make 3d text inside of after effects. (Also, how to shatter a sentance by characters)

2009-11-19T09:06:00.001-08:00

via vimeo.com

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Box of Chocolates 8x8 in acrylic painting on canvas by JohnAzoni

2009-11-17T09:50:00.001-08:00

via etsy.com

This is a great painting showing excellent balance and use of color. The depth is very rich, which is indicative of the chocolate itself.

Very well crafted, and well worth the asking price. Grab it while you can!

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Trees

2009-11-13T08:40:00.001-08:00

via vimeo.com

experimental piece using live action and animation

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Dear Michigan....

2009-11-11T11:45:00.001-08:00

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United Way eBrochure Opening Animation

2009-11-02T14:03:00.001-08:00

via vimeo.com

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Little Tigger is sleepy. (warning: contains excessive cuteness)

2009-10-29T08:27:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

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Simplified Character

2009-10-21T19:41:00.001-07:00

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Character Development

2009-10-19T23:01:00.001-07:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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John & Alexis at Novi Bowl

2009-10-11T10:56:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

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A friend sent you a video

2009-10-07T17:41:00.001-07:00

Hi,

A friend thought you might be interested in this video:

http://news.globaltv.com/video/index.html?releasePID=gvmhSYibFLfXtD4O08B5ZZbTg4mWKLBL

My twitter avatar is on Tronto news TV!

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Video Editing Peripherals Poll

2009-10-07T07:12:00.001-07:00

What peripherals do you use when editing video?

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Sock monster brothers that are waiting for eyes from @jnmiller

2009-10-04T23:04:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

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Spencer on the River Walk in Detroit

2009-10-04T10:50:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

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Spencer and seymore at the 2009 MHS mega walk in Detroit

2009-10-04T10:49:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

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Our beautiful dessert from Weber's in ann Arbor - nom nom nom

2009-09-06T15:37:00.001-07:00

Sent from my iPhone

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Dumb Dog

2009-08-29T16:06:00.001-07:00

via vimeo.com

This is Seymore. He's a dumb dog, but we love him.

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Creating Child-Like Text

2009-08-26T09:58:00.001-07:00

(823 KB)
Watch on posterous

I do a lot of work that is nostalgic for childhood or intended for children (That probably reflects my current stage of development as a creative animator!). One thing I like to do, is create text as if a child had written it, using the text as a graphic in the overall design of a piece. Everyone usually just prints with their weaker hand to get 'scraggily writing', but even when I do I can still see some of the 'adult' peeking through. I figured out that what makes children's writing so 'cute' is their inexperience at forming the strokes for the letters. It's not just the weakness in their fine motor skills. So, in order to 'stoop to their level' so to speak, I had to think of an 'unfamiliar' way to print the letters.

After a few tests and experiments, I figured out I could get that feeling of inexperience by writing the letters backwards. I don't mean printing them so you can read them in a mirror, but creating the strokes of the letter in a backwards order. Here you can see a sample line from a primer, showing how children are taught to make their letters. If I reversed the stroke steps, I got the result I was looking for.

Here's a sample video, showing the process of stroking the letters backwards.

Happy Designing!

Posted via email from Kris10 Cartoons