Listening to my illustration podcasts and looking at what skills employers are looking for, it has become clear that having experience in animation goes a long way. Considering that I have a degree in animation & illustration, I thought it would be best to give it another crack. Since I shamefully have little skill and knowledge of the subject, I wanted my first animation to be simple; meaning I slowly learn the basics and not burn myself out with an overly ambitious project. I figured that the style of illustration I am working on will be perfect for my first animation. I had the idea of just illustrating a pair of eyes blinking and moving about, showing different facial expressions and emotions.
I decided to do this project on Photoshop, as I thought a little extra computing power animating each frame would go a long way. However, by the end of the animation even the computer started to struggle to keep up. Unfortunately, due to WordPress’s premium band, I am unable to upload the animation here. Despite this, it can be viewed on my instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/lead_eraser/
The process was quite therapeutic and not as stressful as i imagined it would be. However, that may be due to the simple idea I had put in place. As simple as it was, I had figured out some of the basics of animation; such as how to animate certain emotions and completing the motion of the pupils and eyelids. The time frame didn’t take me too long either, just clocking over two hours – compromising of 136 frames with a run time of 11 seconds. Overall, I am pretty happy with how it turned out and am excited to jump back in and the thought of it getting a little more complicated as I go. Paired with the new style of illustration I am working on, I think i will be able to carve out a distinctive voice for myself, which is equally as exciting.
karmakika 