The Beauty of Hand-Drawn Animation

 Even though the majority of animation studios have been using computer-generated and 3D to make their movies in recent years, I still love and honestly prefer the look of the traditional 2D hand-drawn animation style. There was something a lot more magical about it and the way an animator could draw a character to life. Computers and 3D models are great, don't get me wrong, but it just doesn't give the same type of feeling that traditional animation does. 

For traditional animation, it's the artist drawing everything that gets me. If you've seen a video of a rough animation (no colors, no background, just the pencil sketches), you could see the beauty of it, as if the character is actually moving on a piece of paper. It's also really hard to get something moving naturally as if it were in a three-dimensional space on paper. Good animators have done it though, and they do it really well. The study and do research, and even add their own personal flair that makes what they're animating seem like it has an actual mind of its own. I've never done any hand-drawn animation before on my own, but I would say that is a main goal of mine. There's just such a classic look to it that is beautiful and timeless.

Comments

  1. Rachel VidaJune 15, 2021 at 4:06 PM

    I prefer the traditional 2D style too. Seeing all these reboots of our childhood cartoon shows like Rugrats and Spongebob turn into the 3D computer generated styles you mentioned kind of takes away the magic of the authenticity of the art of characters' design. I remember watching the Disney Channel commercials where the guys that originally drew Phineas and Ferb would do little tutorials and I always wanted to create my own characters because of them. Don't get me wrong, the 3D designs are cool and I'm sure a lot of work goes into them as well, but there's just something about 2D animation that I enjoy more.

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