Search form

I am hopeless at drawing

9 posts / 0 new
Last post
I am hopeless at drawing

Animation was always something I wanted to do as a kid, but I was never good at drawing and told that I wouldn't be able to be an animator without those skills. I was never really that kid who loved to sketch things. When I did, it was a source of amusement for others. 

I became a 'filmmaker' (it barely feels right to call myself that, but outside my day job and studying, 'filmmaker' is how I define myself, however amatuer I am at it). But recently I realise my ideas and writing is all much better suited to animation. Being an amatuer filmmaker, it's not easy to find an animator to work with, given I can't afford to pay them and they have their own projects they want to work on!

Anyway, the point is animation is still something I'm strongly drawn to. I did a bit of research on my drawing problem, and it seems that there is no real concensus on whether you need to be able to draw to be able to animate (but everyone agrees that it helps). I have good ideas and understanding of composition, lighting, etc - I just cannot draw for the life of me.

I am willing to put the years in to master animation. My question is - is there any point in starting if I cannot draw? Can I collaborate with people who are talented artists but don't like the techincal side of animation in anyway? (2 of my flatmates are very talented artists and have dabbled in animation, but dislike it; my girlfriend is an artist and interested in animation but finds the process daunting) I'm the kind of person who's always thrive off obsessively sitting in front of a computer - I think I could handle the bit of animation that people dislike. Is that a possible way to advance? Or would I be wasting my time?

Sorry for what I'm sure is a commonly asked question!

 

Ken Davis is really good at

Ken Davis is really good at answering this kind of question. Be patient, it may be a few days before he see this. Untill then, you can read some of his post.

If you want to animate stuff

If you want to animate stuff like medical animation, or accident scene reconstruction animation, then you don't really need drawing ability.  You might need to be called upon to do the rigs and design/build the objects, which would call for some artistic ability.
If you want to animate characters, or anything with emotion or a personality, then yes.........drawing ability is a MUST in my opinion, even if you are working in FLASH/Harmony or in CGI.  If you want to do effects, I'd say to do them properly, drawing ability will help you greatly.
Stuff like stop-motion is more like model-making, but how much call is there for that kind of work?  Not a lot.

Solid drawing abilities frequently coincide with strong visualizing abilities. You will simply know what to look for, when faced with a visual problem.

It boils down to this; you've got to bring something to the table. Something that helps the production along and meets the demands of the work.
No-one is going to shoe-horn you in just because.  
If you don't have that, don't bother.

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

Here's another way to flip

Here's another way to flip this around:  What can you do? What are you doing and what have you done?  

Can you tell a story? Can you express your ideas to others? Do you understand the principles of storytelling?
How much do you understand about the production process?
Have you taken a camera and filmed a story?  Live-action, still photos......doesn't matter.  Anyone can write something on paper, and anyone can sit in a chair and muse an idea.  Those are not relevant benchmarks in this venture. Most people that entertain the idea of animation ( or film of any kind) don't do any of that.  They just want to wear this hat that says they are in the animation ( or film) industry.  THAT is an affectation, and it's meaningless.  It will not get them anywhere.

The more you know about the whole process of animation, the craft of it and the production process, the better you will be able to gauge if you have a place in it. You'll be able to tell if whatever skills you have to offer are a fit anywhere in the process.  

"We all grow older, we do not have to grow up"--Archie Goodwin ( 1937-1998)

Cheers Ken

I'm a director (albeit pretty fresh, I'm only 20 - though I've been making films, including some stop motion since I was about 12) and have worked in most places on a range of different sized sets - although like a lot of people I believe my talents lie in my directing and storytelling. Beyond that I have begun growing a small amount of local demand for my editing skills. Most recently I produced and directed a $1500 short, and am currently editing two webseries (not my own).

My relevant experience is all from live action work, but I do understand the general production process, how to tell a story, etc.

I've always been interested in directing animation, although it seems a difficult thing to become involved in if you don't have some animation experience yourself.

There are directors who have

There are directors who have worked on animation, with out a background in animation.

Yah, but my understanding is

Yah, but my understanding is most of those are already well established directors commercially. At this point in my career (if you can call it that) the only way that is going to happen is if I happen to befriend a likeminded animator who wants to team up. Otherwise, of the animators I've met they're only really interested in doing their own projects unless pay is involved - which is totally understandable. 

Do you have any advice for meeting likeminded animators? I've collaborated with many people over the web, though I think with animation it'd be a lot better to meet them in person.

I heard of this site that you

I heard of this site that you can look into.

https://www.patreon.com

There must be more sites to team people up for like-minded projects.

maybe u can do some tracing

maybe u can do some tracing technique.. fyi I cant quite do drawing..but with the tracing techmique it would be easier from time to time to drawing here's it's my video..I cant do drawing but it has nice drawing by some audience..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcLlImfB0mo