Following the wise advice of great artists and craftsmen, animation artists have learned to draw with the side of the pencil tip, holding the pencil lightly between the thumb and forefinger. This allows for a wider range of motion that starts with the shoulder rather than the hand. In this way, we can draw smoother curves and are exposed to a wider range of actions.
Some special effects artists who have honed their skills prefer to use a very thick, blunt and soft pencil for animating effects. Working with the side of a graphite stick can be a good way to end the habit of holding a pencil firmly in your hand. The trick is to stop controlling the tip of the pencil and, as you create shapes, allow the energy to flow through the shoulder, arm, wrist and hand, thus creating the energy of the drawing.
Drawing in this impeccable manner allows us to create organic shapes and patterns that might have eluded us. Using small, detached strokes when drawing rough effects can produce stunning shapes and patterns.
Stick to relative simplicity when rough sketching and focus more on powerful energy and dynamics than on intricate detailing
After a successful rough sketch, details can be added to increase the effect of realism if necessary.
The rough sketch on the left has a powerful flow of energy and provides a solid foundation for the graceful effects in the drawing on the right. A drawing with quality effects should always be started in this way.
Sensitivity to style is another crucial factor in the effects animation process, which determines how the effects should fit into the overall creative control of the movie. It is also important to understand the purposes that the effects serve in each individual scene. In most cases, effects are used simply to add a subtle sense of realism to a scene, as in the case of shadows, lightning, or reflection effects. A simple splash should never draw undue attention to itself if the audience’s attention needs to be focused on a character. This is the basis of staging: always know what you want to do, don’t introduce additional characters just because you want to show off your skills. Effects should be barely noticeable and should always complement the scene, not dominate it. In some scenes, animation effects may carry an underlying humor, and therefore should be more noticeable. But in reality, they play second fiddle to the character animation, where the viewer’s attention is focused.
In various animated scripts, each special effect drawing must follow the overall creative intent of the movie. They then look as if they were created by the same person who drew the characters, created the patterns, or colored the backgrounds. This kind of attention to the creative direction of a movie can make the difference between mediocre animation and great animation effects really meaningful.
It was a really fascinating process to work Disney cartoons where integrating effects into the overall art style was particularly problematic. “Mulan,” “Hercules,” and “Lilo and Stitch” are examples of cartoons where the collaboration of directors and animators to directly reflect the art style of each element results in a flawless match of effects to the overall intent.