linadraws sent: Hey man! Found you on tumblr wooh. Love your 2D animation stuff, keep going and inspire us all some more! ahaha. I was wondering, when you do your for example korra or explosion animation tests do you use much reference for those? I know you said you learnt from youtube videos as reference and stuff but just wondering how much of those sequences came from your head and/or how much you picked up from reference. Just wondering to pick up some tips on learning to animate. Again, love your work. :)
Hi Linadraws!
The animations and sequences I did, I thought up on my own.
When you learn and study from reference (like Youtube videos) you can see how things move/work. When you combine all the stuff you’ve studied, you can do all sorts of crazy things.
So I’d say I picked up a lot of things studying reference!
It’s really a matter of observation and then applying it.
I hope that helps!
Thanks for kind words!
bryankonietzko:
Mike and I received an advance copy of the first Korra art book from Dark Horse today! Looks great. There’s Ryu flipping through the pages, walking down memory lane. It is breaking my heart that this won’t be available until something like *one week* after this year’s San Diego Comic Con. ARGH!
Does anyone else see what I see on Ryu’s computer monitor.. ahhhhhhh
Hellooooooooooo! Nice to see you here too!
roza93 sent: how long did it take you to finish the Pinksplosion???
Hm I’d say over the course of about 2 days?
Pinksplosion!
(Source: jeffreylai)
hylian-douchebag sent: hey! i discovered you last night and i haven't stopped studying your work since! seriously inspiring stuff. anyway, i was wondering if you had any tips for someone just starting out in animation? it looks like you favor the line tool, but again, i am but a novice here. thanks!
Hey! Thanks very much!
I’ve had a few people ask me the same thing in some other asks below,
so I’ll just link’em! (I use the brush tool in Toonboom animate)
http://jeffreylai.tumblr.com/post/49976535949/any-advice-for-practicing-animation-anything-at-all
http://jeffreylai.tumblr.com/post/49217214613/im-floored-at-your-recent-animations-its-incredible
drawingsketches sent: Hey! I have a little question... I dont know if you do this much but when drawing landscape, backgrounds or anything like that, like, how did you learn? Like to draw trees, rocks, grounds, buildings and clouds? O: Any tips? :P Love your art, thanks for your time! :D
What I’d do is go look at the real thing, or some sort of reference.
I’d study it and look at the form/shapes break it down and see how it’s made up.
For example, a pen. You know what it is, but maybe you might not have a clear idea of what it exactly looks like. (This happens a lot if you try to draw something new.) So I’d go and get a real pen, make little studies and draw it from all angles as possible. This way you sort of build up your knowledge of this particular object and be able to draw it!
That’s how I approach things anyway!
advocat sent: Who or what are your biggest inspirations?
Hmmmm let’s see, Hironori Tanaka, Hiroyuki Yamashita, Norio Matsumoto, Sushio, Shirow Miwa, Yutaka Nakamura, Hisashi Mori, Kazuto Nakazawa (continues list forever)
Though apart from the art side, My friends XD
They’re always supportive of me as a person and my art, makes me want to get better!
tinnyhouse sent: have you tried using 3d programs like maya to animate? also big fan of your work! >w<
No I haven’t! 3d programs are abit of a mystery to me.. I don’t think my old computer could handle it. Thanks for the kind words!
mortalcities sent: Hey man, do you live in Auckland? And if so, are you going to chromacon? (Sorry if this seems a little stalker-esque)
I’m abit busy at the moment, I’d have to travel up north for it!
But the event looks rather neat!
fritzroy sent: any advice for practicing animation, anything at all. :]
Hm my advice..
Try to understand how stuff moves and visualize it in your head!
(Youtube it if you don’t know)
eg: some cloth blowing in the wind.
Spin, rotate it and look at it from different angles.
Work on your draftsmanship! I guess that’s a never ending process.
Do lotsa drawing! Practice!
Just be observant and curious of everything!
There’s probably some more stuff I wrote in some of the other asks if you scroll down. Hope that’s of some help!
gin--ko sent: You've probably already been asked this, but what program do you use to animate? Is it easier than Flash and Photoshop(because it looks like it is o v o;;; ) ?
I use Toonboom animate. I wouldn’t really say it was easier, just depends which you like more! (there’s some differences function wise)
So far all I use is the timeline and draw in the frames :)
Though I’m trying to learn the software abit more thoroughly!
roza93 sent: Your Animation Style reminds me of Wolfsmoke animations :DD
Maybe I can be as good as them one day~
Just wanted to try colour!
(Source: jeffreylai.deviantart.com)
