Sketching and Drawing for Animation - Week 1: RnD Exploration
AND141 Sketching and Drawing for Animation
2nd Semester
Week 1
In the first class of the second semester Sketching and Drawing for Animation course AND141, which I attend for animation exploration and research and development purposes, we started with an animation viewing, a drawing exercise, lectures on Negative Space and the Japanese concept of 'Ma,' and finished class with an environmental negative space drawing exercise.
First we watched the animation The Fly by Ferenc Rofusz, 1980.
Then we did a warm-up drawing exercise following the theme of Drama. The prompt given was to draw an environment based on a randomly given time of day and environment type (indoor/outdoor). In the environment, we were then challenged to create a character with an unexpected object as a body part. We were to create some kind of conflict between the character and the environment. We were given 1 hour to complete the drawing(s).
The time of day and environment I received were Night and Outside. In response, I drew a forest landscape under a new moon and starry sky, with pointed pine trees on the left and burnt, dying trees on the right, with a calm sea just beyond the line of burnt trees. I placed my character with a head and hands of flame to sit despondently in the middle of the composition.
'Ma'
To explore the concept of 'Ma,' we first observed the left panel of the Pine Trees Screen by Hasegawa Tōhaku.
gap . space . pause
Negative space leaves room for things to become.
- physical space → between two objects
- psychological/emotional space → between two experiences
- two states of being → one occurrence and the next in what seems to be a story taking shape.
'Ma' is what makes stories work, and humans human.
We then watched a video analyzing Miyazaki's use of Ma in Studio Ghibli films. Then, to further explore Negative Space, we watched a video on How To Use Negative Spaces In Your Drawings from Koosje Koene on YouTube.
Finally, we ended class with a Negative Space drawing exercise focused on environment. Our prompt was to find an item/object/form, focus on its negative space and on the shadow that it casts on its surroundings, and draw space using negative space on one object or on an urban element.
My chosen object(s) to focus on the negative space of were a tree and pipe outside of the drawing classroom. Instead of filling in the details of the objects, I focused on their surrounds and the shadows casted nearby.
