Traditional Animation - Head Turn

Watch as I take you through the process of animating a simple head turn traditionally on paper. There is a lot to think about even in a "simple" shot like this!

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[mud]

This kind of videos are priceless. I'm glad we are in a time were people can share their knowledge and experience with people form all over the world. Thank you!

[smokeskull]

The moment he started circling the pencil I automatically noticed his artistic ability as how smoothly he rounded it, also was shook when he was left handed because ive never seen a left handed artist at work wow

[connor]

Watching this in 2020. At 26:07 they start talking about whether 2D animation will make a comeback or not. Aaron was right mentioning that if people cared enough that it will re-emerge, as Klaus came out the following year and distributed by the streaming service: Netflix. This man has great foresight. More and more 2D series, perhaps not on the level of Klaus but are now still being released. Not to mention Japan who are doing some amazing things, as usual.

[ayla]

your videos really help me to create better animations and drawings. thank you

[mathilda]

I dunno why it's so satisfying for me to see someone in an (kinda) overhead camera setup drawing with their left hand...it's so nice when you don't have to flip stuff in your head when following instructions.

[Chris_KJB]

I don't know why but 2d is still appealing to me, there is something magical in it that 3d doesn't have...maybe because it's HAND-DRAWN in paper!-it's just me.

[dianarte]

I cried so much when I was young 'cause I couldn't go to an animation school, they don't exist in my country, thank you so much for sharing this amazing knowledge, 20 years later, I can get animation lessons from a master!

[comradeacerbus]

It’s nice to see him making happy accidents in his life streams. It makes him feel more relatable even to newer animators, and makes his work seem more real. I’m not much of an animator myself but I love Mr. Blaise’s work!

[whenraindropsfall]

This is amazing! Thank you Aaron! I've always wanted to see how classical animation is done. You're a blessing to the animation community

[zenosyeetgalvus]

Man, I wish this dude was my dad. Fantastic animation tips and wholesome, wholegrain artistry instead of "you a failure, study medicine instead"

/subscribes

[JiraffeJimmy]

Aaron Blaise you are one of the people I look up to the most in my art journey. I’ve had this story in my head for over 6 years now and I’ve recently been designing the characters. I’m going to an animation camp and I’ve studied fundamentals and I can’t wait to animate it like you

[Leon-qhbr]

I like that you said Pete understand story to me and emotion that relates to all ...

[Chris_KJB]

Yeah! good to see that old-school animation disk! Have mine now already a display at my table at home. I'm out of animation paper now.- an ex-2D animator from 1993-2015 here in the Philippines. God bless you Aaron!

[paulgabel]

Whew! I wasn't ready for that new hair cut! I'm gonna miss that ponytail!

[brendamason]

Love your work - especially traditional pencil drawings like this one!

[davestudio]

This is so inspiring !! Thank you so much for sharing your expertise.

[AGO]

He animated the character reacting to the people that disliked this video. This was a great video and I learnt so much! thanks for sharing Aaron!

[philiphoting]

2D animation and 3D animation should never be in a hostile relationship. Saying one can completely replace the other one is like saying peeing can completely replace pooing. (bad analogy, maybe). They just serve different purposes, in different time. Just like sometimes you need to pee, and sometimes you need to poo.

Animation is a big world and it is definitely a vessel which can contain both doctrines. In the beginning stage of developing a 3D animation, having 2D animation knowledge as for keyshot and character design drafting is a huge plus. That can smooth out the whole animation process as you don't have to go directly into the 3D software to sculpt the whole thing or import a model and stretch the model to attain what you want. Simply take out a paper and use a pencil to 2D draft will save you tons of time and energy. (who else agree with me? I just find the initial drafting stage being very limiting when using 3D software as a drafting and idea development tool. When you are in thinking mode and have tons of ideas, the requirement to press different keys or to switch between tools is just so hindering, even when you are so good at the shortcuts.)

And then, after making some drafting with 2D knowledge, you can scan the drawing and enter the 3D development environment. Import model, rigging, etc. During the process, sometimes, your brain can switch back to the 2D animation thinking mind. Say for example, when a model is so stiffed after several attempts, you can take a paper out and use a pencil to try drafting in 2D animation. Inter-reference the 2D drawing with the 3D rigged animation which you have just created. Because sometimes, when you have spent so much time staring at the computer, your brain starts to become stiff. So having another tool which you can switch between can make the creation process "more lively". Our brain is just not a one way street. Sometimes it needs another kind of sensory stimulation to awaken us back.

So basically, having both 2D animation and 3D animation knowledge intertwined creates a great development and creation process.

[tejano]

I'm a new subscriber and an artist and I find this fascinating. That is a lot of work wow.

[JohnCarter]

Love when you demonstrate solid construction. And love, love, love paper animation! More please :-)