My PROCESS

Usually, when I begin a piece, I start with several thumbnail sketches. This is true for any project I work on regardless of the media form. After I have a few thumbnails laid out, I choose the one that I feel is the strongest and begin sketching a more detailed version. For animation, this is when I will begin roughly drawing in frames of key movements and create a beadboard using those frames. Once I have a beadboard, I move on to drafting the storyboard and adding in-between frames to create a greater sense of movement overall. After I work out timing and pacing, I am at the point of having a storyboard. After this step, I work to make the movement more detailed and worry about the camera. At this point, I will have an animatic. Some final polishing will be done and more frames will be added for fluidity, and then I have an animation.

An example can be seen below.

Process for [REDACTED] Animatic

4. Animatic

This is the animatic stage. Here is when I would finalize camera movement and any complex points of animation.

3. Storyboard

This is the storyboard stage which comes after the beatboard stage. The characters are only vaguely recognizable and all that I am focused on is their broken-down movements and important scenes.

2. Beatboard

This is the beatboard stage. This is where I compile frames together and only focus on key movements of the characters. Very little detail needed.

Illustration Process

Like animation, with illustration, I like to start with a few thumbnails. I choose the thumbnail that I think is the strongest, and I develop it further. I start with a rough sketch and then move on to correcting the anatomy and perspective. Once I am happy, I move to lineart. After lineart is completed, I shade with a single color, being sure to have a good range of value. I then add a gradient map and adjust the color to my liking while overlaying layers of color. I then go in and add the final details and effects.