Animation Reflux

I'm so glad I decided to take the Animation workshop with Alec Longstreth at the Center for Cartoon Studies -- AGAIN! I enjoyed it last summer too, but I didn't get the concepts, techniques, etc. firmly planted in my brain in a way that would let me actually USE them.

This time, I think I'm getting it. And Alec is such a great teacher that he found new ways to present some of the material, so it makes more sense.

If you want to see all the GIFS I've created so far (including a few of last year's), take a look at my Patreon - click HERE for all the animation posts.

I had forgotten how difficult it is for me to be in class all day - physically and mentally. Especially since I don't live here anymore. Lilah (she's in Comic Camp) and I both miss our apartment terribly. It is not easy "living" in a tiny hotel room, eating breakfast on the bed! But, it is convenient to be so close to the school. I think, just about the time we get the hang of this again... class will be over!

Alec really packs a lot into the classes and I'm trying to make sure I push myself a little bit further with each assignment. Right now, there are so many unfinished projects - each one I hope to go back and finish, but I have to move on to the next...

Today's big "AHA!" was the "Squash and Stretch" project. It's a basic circle (ball) that stretches and squashes as it bounces (harder than it looks!)

Since I did the basic project last summer, I decided to try using a Lilah Bean instead of the ball.

Halfway through, I started wondering what kind of insanity had possessed me!?

I finished the pencils with ten minutes til critique time.
I finished filming (with Stopmotion software), five minutes later!

When I got back to my hotel room - I imported the pencils into Photoshop and made a cleaner looking GIF:

Still pretty rough, but worth the pain! Notice her little hands and feet flailing away as she bounces through the air?

Tonight I need to come up with a few characters that I can try to animate tomorrow when we do Walk Cycles!