( This illustration belongs to him and not to me ).

I was familiar with his design work as a production designer ( remember Lumiere?, or Mulan? ). He even designed some fonts, in case you didn’t know – but I am sure many illustrators/animators/designers have followed his work for many years.

For the past 4 years Hans Bacher has been putting a lot of effort into posting tons of stills from a variety of animated feature films. Mostly Disney shows, but not only.

He has also been devoting time to re-creating backgrounds that can’t be seen anywhere else, as far as I know. His home in virtual space is friendly, go visit.

If you have any interest in 2D animation and if there’s any shred of hope left in you that this is not a dead medium, please watch this presentation. It will bring you joy, I swear.

But regardless of the medium the film is made in, every animator/filmmaker will find little treasures in this 50 min presentation. If you have the time and the curiosity, you can even follow the progress of this film here.

I have updated the link under Mike Nguyen’s name, as it initially pointed to July Films. It will permanently reside on this blog under the Get Inspired topic – for as long as he writes/teaches/shares his thoughts on traditional animation ( and other magical things ).

You will find his posts not only inspiring but also very informative. If you find any other virtual place where one can learn more about 2D animation ( and I’m not talking about the usual suspects’ blogs here ), please let me know.

The website is Rainplace. And I think it’s one of the best blogs out there.

Behind the Scenes with an independent 2D Filmmaker Hosted by The Creative Talent Network from Creative Talent Network on Vimeo.

If I pass by him, rushing somewhere, I feel ashamed I don’t stop to say ‘hi’ at the very least ( he’s a great conversationalist, by the way ). Winter is coming here in Oz and I’m not sure if he’ll keep coming to play everyday on the street.

It’s a strange, strange thing that happens on this street. I’m new in town but I’m not surprised – I’ve seen this phenomenon in other parts of the world as well. There are all sorts of performers here – I admire them all for the guts they have. The majority, I’m sure, don’t keep regular jobs. They simply do what they love to do for a living. Some are too loud though, I always walk a bit faster so I can leave them behind sooner and hear my thoughts again. I don’t know how to put this elegantly.

And in this crazy atmosphere, this loud crowd, this constant state of agitation, this maddening shopping frenzy people tend to get into on a pedestrian only street – I found Andy playing his Stick.

Listen to this :

Animation Physics invites us all to participate and contribute – and there’s a wiki page one can log into and add content to the site. Creative, isn’t it ?

Under the LEARN category on this blog there’s a permanent link to Mr. Garcia’s website and I intend to keep it there for a long , long time. Beginners and seasoned animators alike can benefit from such content and here’s hoping for loads of contributions to the above mentioned wiki page.

Physics of Balance and Weight Shift, Physics of Paths of Actions, Physics of Timing and Spacing – these are all tutorials you can find on the website. They can be downloaded in PDF form.

And there’s more to come.

For those who live in the States ( San Jose area ), there are also Masterclasses periodically held at San Jose State University.

It’s whimsical and also very tragic, now these are two words I rarely use in the same sentence . It was created in 2005 ( as far as I know ) and the song belongs to Tiger Lillies.

Belle Mellor is a prolific illustrator with a very specific style, easily recognizable.

The animation is beautiful, very symbolical. Go ahead and watch it, you’ll get goose-bumps.

Be ready to do a lot of research. Have a clearly defined idea of what your character wants and how he/she will overcome obstacles. This is imperative. Or so it seems.

Some ideas will give birth to other even better ideas. I am never afraid to trash the original ones – I don’t think that’s a trap. Those who want conclusions to everything and ‘finished’ stuff will disagree with me. It’s also very true that jumping from one thing to the other, from half -baked ideas to others just as crude might mean you never get to finish anything. Thank God we all have deadlines.

But every now and then there’s a gem in those notes one took or wrote down on post-it notes – and from there the sky’s the limit.

I avoid relying on memory. Over the years I’ve learned not to trust my memory. Bits of ideas that I thought I had very clearly defined in my mind were lost forever because I didn’t take the time to jot them down.

This won’t be a long article. I invite you to watch the videos below as they can open your mind and inspire you. What Ira Glass is talking about here can be applied to animation as well as to any other creative process for that matter.

Be natural and your character will be too. Look for the drama in a story but avoid overemphasizing. In animation this means hitting all accents in a line of dialog or gesturing for the sake of gesturing.

If you want to see more or to find out more about the artist, please follow the link. There’s also an English version.

Enjoy !

For those who don’t know it yet, Kenny is one the best animators out there. No, I haven’t worked with him and I’m not his student. But there’s still time for both to happen, I’m the perpetual optimist.

I’ve been following his work and teaching for a few good years now ( he had an informative blog and occasionally critiqued some animation work on 11 Second Club ). I have the privilege of watching his critiques at Animation Mentor ( where he’s been teaching for more than 5 years ) and I am learning lots from him.

I have recently bought a couple of the lectures he offered online ( at a ridiculously low price, I might add ) and I’m glad I did. I don’t see them there anymore, but once the site is up and running I bet everyone interested will have access to the lectures again.

Definitely worth checking it out.

GEAR – Quick overview from Jeremie Passerin on Vimeo.