mussel man

[Klaus Hoefs]

some very first sketches for a new character.
The second animation has some blank exposures in between.

[Sierra Rose]

The turn at the desk by the sitting man is really alive and the standing turn is too in spite of the blank frames.

Your easy sketching inspires me to be more relaxed and not clean up my drawings so much. Thanks, Klaus.

[Paul Fierlinger]

The man turning on the spot would work nicer if you depicted some shifting of weight before he makes the turn -- and, as always, would work better with more inbetweens. I like the loosness of the lines as well. Question: is this straight ahead animation or do you first draw poses to be consequently inbetweened?

[Klaus Hoefs]

done straight ahead, in both cases.

[Paul Fierlinger]

I see... I think that is your mistake because it shows.

[Klaus Hoefs]

reworked,( added inbetweens / took some keyframes as poses ;; added pauses )

[Paul Fierlinger]

Better, but for such a short and simple motion, are the holds really necessary? Now if the animation had a soundtrack to justify the holds, it might come out feeling more natural, but the way you present this exercise I'd say you would be better off without these short holds. And if you did need to insert a hold because you need to keep the length of time as is, I'd suggest using just one, but longer, rather than three short ones. A short hold will always come off looking like a mistake -- unless accompanied and justified by a soundtrack.