Joe Murray has posted his book “Creating Animated Cartoons with Character” up on his site for free download as an e-book! The book is out of print and sold for jacked up prices online so this is amazing!
Years ago I designed that stick/staff the pony is holding. I didn’t see NG Evangelion until this year, and as soon as I saw the lance I was like oh lol. The script called for a stick that looked like it could be “a staff of equality” so I went for a gnarled, twisting branch 🤷🏻♀️
~The Beautiful People~
Tabbitha from COTC, drew some headcanon concepts of her thu the years, a rehash of some old ideas
@benfo
& I were playing around w/ years ago when we were like... Hey, could she have multiple outfits? I love this lil goth. Gotta do Courtney next.
Forcing cartoon creators to hustle to promote their own work/shows on social media is such bull. Corporations have promotion/media teams, it shouldn’t fall so heavily on the people who make the dang shows.
I once started doodling a guide about some basic acting for storyboarding, but never got to finish it. I still think these ideas are decent, BUT it does depend on the type of show you work on, some shows play into more stiff posing! The main take-away should be: have fun ACTING!
Hey artists, in this episode of Don’t Ruin Yourself Drawing: get up every 30-60 mins, walk around, or in the very least make sure your legs aren’t dangling, and better yet, propped up so they don’t swell from inactivity which could lead to further complications.
~The Beautiful People~
Tabbitha from COTC, drew some headcanon concepts of her thu the years, a rehash of some old ideas
@benfo
& I were playing around w/ years ago when we were like... Hey, could she have multiple outfits? I love this lil goth. Gotta do Courtney next.
Netflix really scooped up some of the best in the biz to dump them just like that?? So fucked up. Sorry to everyone caught up in this bullshit. Cruel to see it continue to domino, taking out such good projects and people. What are they thinking…
This has happened on other shows I’ve worked on, I was none the wiser in the beginning, but it’s BULLSHIT. You’re hired to work on a “season” but then they cut it up into 2 or 3 or A & B, to skirt everyone working on it from getting the raises they deserve!!
I did a tiny bit of viz dev for "Destiny" ep of Fionna & Cake way back, but I don't think it made it into the ep, haha! Seeing everyone else post their work, I'm like damn, okay, I see why. Fionna & Cake looks stellar, I can't wait to catch up on it!
I still think about a Lyft ride I took years ago where the driver asked what I did for a living and I told him I worked in cartoons and he asked what cartoon and I said Adventure Time and he said he’d never heard of that. A gentle reminder that there’s a big world outside.
Was talking to a buddy a storyboard thing, and as it's been awhile, I always reference the following two guides for basic storyboarding for TV animation, because they're online, FREE, and concise!
Animation twitter, more specifically storyboard artists and those who hope to be (professionally):
What got you interested in storyboarding? I’m curious!
Hey young artists, make sure you take care of your drawing arm and hand.
I’m in my 30’s and my hand hurts!Don’t wait till that or more happens because it’s harder to undo than PREVENT.
Stretch! Hourly breaks!
Nobody likes to be told what to do, but this is simply advice.
I fuckin’ love TMNT Mutant Mayhem, amazing style, pretty dang good dialogue (love when they roll with adlibs), cool action, beautiful colors, sick music, ninja turtles, mutants… I’ve seen it 4 times already and I’ll go with anyone that wants to see it again.
When we were working on the Craig of the Creek movie, I made this quick guide on how to draw Craig for the other boarders. Color Ref drawings lineart by Danny Hynes and w/ colors by
@benfo
. Danny later adjusted the side-by-side of young and older Craig, but I don't have that, ha.
My first response to this was misdirected energy and also a decent lack of media literacy. Care about CN and the rest of the industry, get involved & support us in the upcoming negotiations if you’re not or not yet in the industry. We want to make cartoons & protect its workers.
Cartoon Network is dead?!?!
Spread the word about what’s at stake for animation!!! Post about your favorite Cartoon Network shows using
#RIPCartoonNetwork
Active members of TAG can help by filling out your survey! Today (7/8) is the last day!
Oh my god, they’re finally gonna air these. I directed on a bunch of these eps! It was so fun seeing what some of the creek kids’ home lives are like, and watching the crew bring them to life!!
Get ready for the ultimate sleepover.
Check out the new :30 version promo for the final season of Craig of the Creek! Starts Saturday, June 1st at 9:30a on
@cartoonnetwork
.
We see this “It’s not too late to get into the animation industry!” talk every couple months. The average North American life expectancy is 78.5, stop acting like your life/career is over at at 25. I’ve even seen friends with this sentiment at 21, STOP. It’s okay 2 be old, lol
Did you watch newest ep of Craig Of The Creek, The Curse, tonight?? Are you about to? I think it aired! I boarded it w/
@egomatter
! Didn't get time to make a promo but here is some "concept" sketches I did when we were coming up with the witches of the creek, Tabitha and Courtney
THREAD:
Been thinking a lot about the future in terms of my life in animation.
What do other animation people think about their’s?
Are you just dipping in for a taste until you’re over it? Or, do you have this vision of staying in for the long haul? Do you have a backup plan?
I’m physically & mentally exhausted today, my throat is sore from talking with those I have been able to in the wake of this news. Things like this are never easy but thanks to the distinct pleasure and privilege of working on this crew since the beginning, this feels devastating
Thread of some panels from my first .
@CraigoftheCreek
ep as a board team w/ wonderful .
@neo_rama
, from our episode The Ground Is LAVA!!! Beautiful title card designed and painted by theee .
@benfo
((SPOILER WARNING))
Adventure Time has been such a positive opportunity and influence in my life, it was surreal to get to work on the show and with so many amazing people. I remember watching it and saying, “that’s the kind of show I’d want to work on.” Whodda thunk. 👋 | (• ◡•)| (❍ᴥ❍ʋ) 💕
Puppy Love aired yesterday on CN and is now streaming on HBOMax! Written & Storyboarded by
@neo_rama
and I, with this beautiful title card by
@ScottForbes
.
A 🧵 of storyboard panels I'm proud of because I was so stoked to do this episode.
I may be the opposite, haha! Anyone else? I'm my own worst critic and usually full of despair before first pitch. But right before, all fucks evaporate, and it feels so good to ham it up and let it all flop out, for better or worse. Maybe because I'm excited to fix it in notes???
Me: *trying on a jacket at Uniqlo*
Random Man: Excuse me, do you work here?
Me: No, sorry.
RM: Oh! Oh, well, you look like you should!
Me: Just trying on a coat!
RM: You look like great!
Me: lol???
Artist rendering of my ~look~:
You can't show kids how to turn on a stove-top burner, but in the Craig episode "The Takeout Mission" the kids are making rice alone, thus:
"We're kids. We're not allowed to turn on the stove."
"Hey look. It turned itself on."
Another
@dashawnmahone
&
@najja_porter
classic
Started a new board today to w/this in mind, but still working in Storyboard Pro as it's the standard of the production I work on!
I devised a way to simulate drawing on tiny post-it notes in-program. Tho, depending on time constraints, sometimes I employ it better than others.
You can tell early SpongeBob was boarded on paper because shot-framing like this is the kind of quirky composition that comes from drawing small. Clear cartooning with intention.
Nature Pants / 1999
Unpacking my office boxes from work, and check out these Craig of the Creek pencil animation drawings that Saerom Animation sent over and
@ben_levin
let us dig thru and snag scenes from. So sick, I will cherish these forever, haha 🥹❤️
(from Crew of the Creek Tumblr)
Adventures in Baby Casino - Title Card
Designed & painted by
@ScottForbes
Premieres on April 19th at 5pm (est) on Cartoon Network!
Put on Courage the Cowardly Dog to idly watch with some friends, and like most of them perked up and told me it was their fav show as a kid??? I’d never seen it, but lord, kids obviously love and can handle creepy shit and cartoon violence. That show is weird as hell, it’s great.
More details on Supermutant Magic Academy:
-The show is created by Jillian Tamaki (the novel’s creator) and JG Quintel, produced by CNS
-It focuses on a transfer student who ends up at a high school that includes mutants and human students who navigate their burgeoning powers.
This. I got noticed and eventually a job on Adventure Time because of my fan art. Now I’m at CN and they can’t get rid of meee 😈 (Though I will say I was also working in animation in Vancouver at the time) It all depends what you’re aiming for.
People that tell you that fanart is unprofessional and holds you back from getting jobs are, quite frankly, full of shit.
Signed, a dude that never went to art school and has gotten art jobs for almost two decades with a portfolio that is 90% fanart
I'm gonna miss this place, I drew a lot of stupid stuff in the stairwell because I used it every day. When I moved to the black building, I was low-key pissed because there's just something about the white building that is more fun and open. I'm so grateful I got to work here.
The Roundtable: Goodbye, Cartoon Network Studios Building: As Cartoon Network Studios' operations are merging with Warner Bros. Animation, CNS will move out their current studio, but should the building be preserved in some way as a tribute to animation?
My tuition at ACAD (Alberta College of Art & Design in Calgary, Alberta) was about $4,000 CAD a year (2004-8), and I was able to get a scholarship to pay for it. While it’s not an animation school persay, you don’t have to pay $50,000 a year to get a degree. That’s criminal.
In the AT episode Wheels, I had to give everyone skateboarding helmets and pads. Animal teens in a post-apocalyptic world need helmets and pads! So the animals got basic bandage "pads" and I decided a post-apocalyptic helmet for a fox would be a rock tied to the top of his head.
Concept art that I did for a PB outfit, while doing some clean-up on the upcoming ep, "Blenanas" (which premieres Sunday, March 18th at 7:00/6:00c on Cartoon Network).
Almost half the population of LA are people of Hispanic/Latino origin, of varying generational ties to their roots. It seems this is the creator's experience, not a monolithic Latin American example.