Category: Uncategorised

Slow steps at the bottom of the mountain

Learning to be an animator is a slow and methodical process. My years as a freelance illustrator has put me in good stead with pen and paper, however the fundaments of transitional movement, made up of a multitude of drawings, is a completely new venture.

My current drawing practice is centred around character and emotion. Single pose characters, holding their own, communicating through body language and attitude. They are simple and tend to come in batches of about 8 – 12 individual drawings. They are invariably usurped by the next idea and subsequent character to emerge. Within these sets of images, characterisation and variation occurs of its own accord. I usually feel I am just racing to keep up and allow the drawings to make their own way onto the page.

This ability to make pleasing images of single pose figures is a great start. I have developed a clear aesthetic voice over the years, and I like this. But shifting ‘single-use’ characters into characterisation, requires a whole new knowledge bank. I have never until now, had to consider the ‘links’, the ‘in-betweens’, the ‘what-next’s’, and in order to work these out I need a framework and process.

This ( I understand ) is called the 12 Principles of Animation. A checklist of technical knowhow from which to construct a convincing moving image. These steps are ones I am already taking in my first few weeks on MACA (MA Character Animation) at UAL.

All art is creative, and should be free to break the rules. Some animation styles are abstract, some authentically misaligned and some super realistic.

But the thing about animation is that it is fake.

It asks of its audience to completely suspend belief and go with the caprice that what they are watching is the equivalent of real life. To achieve this the 12 Principles form the backbone – the skeleton – of a make-believe world of action and reaction.

At the start of MACA I feel myself to be at the bottom of a mountain. Putting my drawing skills to one side, I must learn to draw and ‘think drawing’ from a whole new perspective. There is very little auto pilot in animation beyond the initial concept art. The rest is comprehension and graft.

It is both daunting and exciting.

I know I am going to learn so much and I know this learning is going to help me create new and wonderful things. The process is methodology, and that is where the 12 Principles come in.

Most definitely to be continued.

12 Principles blog to come…

Character design start ups

In our first Character Design session with tutor Sacha Beeley (15th Oct 2025), we were invited to consider ‘Why we draw like we do‘ What makes us tick when pen hit the paper and what our innate driving forces are when creating a 2D character.

However complex (or not) a character ultimately becomes, there is always that spark, that push and motivation, which manifolds a genus of our own. A process of talking our truth, drawing from the heart and being honest.

Originality is a mutable concept that expands and contacts according to one’s experience, conscious-memory, auto-memory and subliminal-memory. But wherever the ideas are coming from, in that instance of thought and creation – it’s the intention that counts.

Put on the spot – I have a strong desire to portray feelings and emotions. Simply, quietly and directly.

I would consider myself to be fairly shy and this I feel comes out in my drawings. I rarely see my characters as taking centre stage.

I like the in-betweens, the side glance or implied action.

I am drawn to quiet things, like birds, animals and pencils. Enjoying the simple – like solo playing with marbles.

I like to express feelings and thoughts I might have in a drawing, but am less likely to say out loud: a sort of alter-ego and a companion.

2 corners of influence

When I was a teenager in the 1980s I went to a Pop Arts exhibition at The Hayward Gallery. I don’t recall every work of art, but I do remember the feeling it left me with and one which I draw on within my art ( Why I draw Like I do ) still today. It was bold. It was ballsy. It used text within artworks to heighten the delivery pitch. It was communication and I loved it. A pin badge with the slogan ‘Slip it to me’ by Richard Hamilton, was my physical take away, however the impact of direct and implied animated communication, remains a corner stone of my creative journey. To this day, I use words in my drawings. If it helps – do it.

Jamie Hewlett has the other corner covered.

When I saw the Gorillaz for the first time, my creative mind was completely rearranged. His shifting of goal posts, bringing live interactive animated illustration to the masses, has stayed with me and is within my daily drawing practice. Understatement, care free delivery and ‘real’ life-living, care-worn people.

I will always be a magpie for innovative illustration. I seek it out.

My starting point has to be honesty. How would I feel if that were me.

I really enjoyed our session with Sasha. The drawings here are the exercises we did.

Welcome to myblog.arts. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!