Solid Drawing...
...is where the animator or artist needs to think about showing the drawing of a character in a more realistic, three dimensional and above all life-like way. A key way to assess if your drawing has achieved this is to ask yourself the question, ''Does the drawing have width, depth and balance?'' The three simple items a basic solid, three dimensional drawing should include.
You should also look out for so called ''twins'' within your illustrations. This is the unfortunate situation where both arms or both legs of your character are not only parallel but also doing exactly the same thing. This should be avoided as, if you were an actor you would never think of expressing an emotion through ''twin'' movements, but somehow, in drawings and illustrations, if you're not thinking clearly this problem can creep in time and time again. No one usually draws like this intentionally and its often only done by the artist or animator without him or her even realizing it.
We have included both a historic and contemporary example of solid drawing through the use of images below:
You should also look out for so called ''twins'' within your illustrations. This is the unfortunate situation where both arms or both legs of your character are not only parallel but also doing exactly the same thing. This should be avoided as, if you were an actor you would never think of expressing an emotion through ''twin'' movements, but somehow, in drawings and illustrations, if you're not thinking clearly this problem can creep in time and time again. No one usually draws like this intentionally and its often only done by the artist or animator without him or her even realizing it.
We have included both a historic and contemporary example of solid drawing through the use of images below:
Classic Example:
Here you can see a classic example of solid drawing in the form of an illustration extract from the book 'The Illusion of Life Disney Animation' by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston. It shows a couple of simple sketches of Mickey Mouse and notes about them which support the information we have already discussed, explaining how by simply placing a character at a slight angle you loose the element of ''twining'' and gain a far more realistic three dimensional character within your animation.
Here you can see a classic example of solid drawing in the form of an illustration extract from the book 'The Illusion of Life Disney Animation' by Frank Thomas & Ollie Johnston. It shows a couple of simple sketches of Mickey Mouse and notes about them which support the information we have already discussed, explaining how by simply placing a character at a slight angle you loose the element of ''twining'' and gain a far more realistic three dimensional character within your animation.
Contemporary Example:
Here you can see another illustration extract, this time from the book 'the Simpsons Handbook, secret tips from the pros'. It shows a clear example of solid drawing from a contemporary animation. You can again see how in the 'front view' Homer looks very flat and cardboard-cut-out-like, whereas by placing him at a slight '3/4 front' angle this problem is then solved, and the illustration becomes once again more realistic and three dimensional.
Written by Nick Crimmen