Drawing dynamic effects, like waves from photos, can teach us a lot, but it is from observation of the actual phenomena, that we best inform our imagination. All images courtesy of Joseph Gilland, unless otherwise indicated.

Let’s say we have done our research, our experimentation and our observation. How do we take all this information and get it on to paper? What drawing techniques do we need to embrace? How does one capture the extremely complex shapes of elements, like fire and water, and invest them with “life”? The answer is this simple: loosen up, and let your drawing hand flow. In the same way a good life-drawing teacher will encourage us to quickly draw a figure’s “gesture,” we need to spend a lot of time observing our model, which in our case is the natural phenomena we wish to recreate. Draw with as much abandon and freedom of movement as possible. Although the designs and patterns we wish to represent may be filled with intricate details, what we need to capture first on our blank sheet of paper is the energy and movement underlying the detail. Every wave, ripple, splash, lick of flame, or plume of smoke has beneath its details a natural energy form much like a human’s underlying form of skeleton and muscle. Gravity, hot and cold air, and any number of outside forces may inform that energy pattern. Once in motion, these energy patterns play out in a uniform force, moving in a beautifully logical way, until the underlying energy dissipates.

Whether it is a house on fire, or a 40-foot wave rolling towards the coast of Hawaii, there is cause-and-effect playing out in the metamorphosis of energy patterns. That energy must inform our hand as we sketch our initial effects animation drawing. If we have studied our elements thoroughly, we will instinctively move our hand with arcs and paths of action that possess this very energy.

In the chapters to come, we will discuss these patterns in detail. The emphasis here is to understand that the underlying substance of every effect is pure energy. We will also discuss what happens when that energy collides with an object, or an opposing energy force. Here are just a few examples of this phenomena: light rays hitting an object and casting a shadow; a wave colliding with the shoreline creating splashes, then receding and colliding with the next approaching wave; smoke billowing upwards and spreading out across a ceiling; and raindrops landing on a sidewalk.

So if the structure of our effects drawings contains this energy, this thrust of pattern and motion, then what of the details? Where and how do they fit into the picture? This is the key to every great effects drawing. Every tiny ripple on an ocean’s surface, every droplet of a splash, every detail of a nuclear mushroom cloud, is informed by a similar energy pattern. Sometimes it is the same force that drives the overall effect; sometimes it is a subset of that energy, or an opposing force. As we finesse our effects drawings and add details, these energy forces must inform every stroke of the pencil. The droplets that break off of a splash are moving with the same energy of the overall splash. They move within a pattern of energy, and our hand, our brain, and ultimately our pencil, must connect with that energy and express its elegant logic.

A turbulent river flowing through a canyon is being driven by gravity — everything it does is informed by that energy. However, along the shore of the river, rock formations may collide with the energy of the water and whip it into whirlpools and eddies, creating splashes and spiral patterns, mixing the water with air to create bubbles and foam. A gust of wind may be creating small waves on the surface of the river that move in the opposite direction of the river’s flow. All these forces, or overlapping actions, need to be taken into consideration when creating a special effects scene.

While some highly detailed effects drawings may appear to be filled with random details, it is very important to understand that if it is a good effects drawing, every detail in it is informed with a pattern of energy. Also intrinsic to effects drawings are natural design principles, which are best observed and felt rather than scientifically understood, though we will do our best to describe the more scientific aspects of these design principles in the following pages.

By carefully studying patterns in nature, one begins to discover a cosmic similarity in all the natural elements on this planet, which are at once perfect and chaotic, yet wholly unique (for instance, every snowflake has its own discrete design). The patterns in nature shift between the macrocosmic and the microcosmic, bridging the distance from the cosmic to the cellular. The spiral of a galaxy is reflected in the twist of our DNA, a budding fern, a snake’s skeleton, and a snail’s shell. The branching out of pure energy as it flows from place to place is evident in a bolt of lightning, in the spreading branches of an oak tree, in the veins that run through our bodies, in a crack on the sidewalk, or in the arterial channels of a river delta flowing into the ocean. The fractal beauty of a mountain range that takes our breath away can be seen in ocean waves heaving in a storm, or in a single rock held in our hand. Even if we are animating supernatural phenomena, like pixie dust or flying spirit entities, there must be contained somewhere deep within our drawings these archetypal principles of natural design. They are everywhere around us, and yet escape the eye and the hand of a great many artists. Study nature, observe and feel the patterns of energy inherent in the world we live in.