Are you an animator?

Do you remember why you wanted to be an animator in the first place? How long has it been since you thought about that passion-- instead of fretting about keeping your current job or getting your next one? Unfortunately in the Real World those lofty ideals you embraced in college (or before college) are often sidetracked for the more urgent needs of just surviving. There are rare instances of those who still-- even after years of being beaten down by the realities of the animation industry-- still manage to do unique creations springing from their original passion for animation (hi, martes. But most of us (myself included) just get beaten down.

Michael Sporn's blog is the blog of a professional animator who has managed to nurture his passion for animation even after years of being a professional animator. His work speaks for itself and his posts are both well-written and filled with that, "I want to be an animator!" zeal that originally got many of us pointed in this direction.

Read it for a daily dose of zeal...check out his archives for the treasure-trove of information, notes. In particular, the notes from a seminar Richard Williams held in 1973, inviting animators from all over the world to speak to his crew just prior to his Ragedy Anne film. These are pretty raw (notes on a lecture that weren't intended to teach)-- but well worth pouring over-- that focus on the incredibly personal process of bringing drawings to life.

Here's a nice bit about the trend for new animators to make shorts that are more sales pitches than good short films. Further down this page are scans of the Ken Anderson Layout Training Course from 1936. Just a sample of the amazing information you can find in this blog-- it's like the warehouse from Indiana Jones, but easier to use!

Here's a sample from a post: one page of Richard Williams notes from the Art Babbit lecture in 1973:

Are you an animator?

Do you remember why you wanted to be an animator in the first place? How long has it been since you thought about that passion-- instead of fretting about keeping your current job or getting your next one? Unfortunately in the Real World those lofty ideals you embraced in college (or before college) are often sidetracked for the more urgent needs of just surviving. There are rare instances of those who still-- even after years of being beaten down by the realities of the animation industry-- still manage to do unique creations springing from their original passion for animation (hi, martes. But most of us (myself included) just get beaten down.

Michael Sporn's blog is the blog of a professional animator who has managed to nurture his passion for animation even after years of being a professional animator. His work speaks for itself and his posts are both well-written and filled with that, "I want to be an animator!" zeal that originally got many of us pointed in this direction.

Read it for a daily dose of zeal...check out his archives for the treasure-trove of information, notes. In particular, the notes from a seminar Richard Williams held in 1973, inviting animators from all over the world to speak to his crew just prior to his Ragedy Anne film. These are pretty raw (notes on a lecture that weren't intended to teach)-- but well worth pouring over-- that focus on the incredibly personal process of bringing drawings to life.

Here's a nice bit about the trend for new animators to make shorts that are more sales pitches than good short films. Further down this page are scans of the Ken Anderson Layout Training Course from 1936. Just a sample of the amazing information you can find in this blog-- it's like the warehouse from Indiana Jones, but easier to use!

Here's a sample from a post: one page of Richard Williams notes from the Art Babbit lecture in 1973:

Are you an animator?

Do you remember why you wanted to be an animator in the first place? How long has it been since you thought about that passion-- instead of fretting about keeping your current job or getting your next one? Unfortunately in the Real World those lofty ideals you embraced in college (or before college) are often sidetracked for the more urgent needs of just surviving. There are rare instances of those who still-- even after years of being beaten down by the realities of the animation industry-- still manage to do unique creations springing from their original passion for animation (hi, martes. But most of us (myself included) just get beaten down.

Michael Sporn's blog is the blog of a professional animator who has managed to nurture his passion for animation even after years of being a professional animator. His work speaks for itself and his posts are both well-written and filled with that, "I want to be an animator!" zeal that originally got many of us pointed in this direction.

Read it for a daily dose of zeal...check out his archives for the treasure-trove of information, notes. In particular, the notes from a seminar Richard Williams held in 1973, inviting animators from all over the world to speak to his crew just prior to his Ragedy Anne film. These are pretty raw (notes on a lecture that weren't intended to teach)-- but well worth pouring over-- that focus on the incredibly personal process of bringing drawings to life.

Here's a nice bit about the trend for new animators to make shorts that are more sales pitches than good short films. Further down this page are scans of the Ken Anderson Layout Training Course from 1936. Just a sample of the amazing information you can find in this blog-- it's like the warehouse from Indiana Jones, but easier to use!

Here's a sample from a post: one page of Richard Williams notes from the Art Babbit lecture in 1973: