Rough Keys
Now when you’re actually doing the drawings of your key poses, you usually start off by drawing the first pose right on model with lots of details. Then as you begin to move through the scene, the character begins to deteriorate to the point where heads are just circles and arms and legs are just a single line. Now there’s nothing wrong with this, just so long as the action is readable on screen.
I mentioned earlier the tendency for the character to shrink through the scene. Be sure to always refer back to the first key pose for scale and proportions. If you make a photocopy of the first pose and then rip off the bottom of the paper so that you can easily insert the copy without running into the pegs to line the drawing up to the key you’re currently working on. Place the copy underneath the drawing you’re doing and you can see through the paper to trace off the volumes.
Try to keep the poses loose but legible. If you use the circle for the head, be sure to indicate the eye line and center line for the indication of the rotation on the head. It’s also a really good idea to draw on the eyes as well for proper expression and eye direction.
If you’re dealing with lip sync, I suggest you leave the mouth off completely until you’re ready to clean up the poses. The mouth should be the very last thing you add to the drawings. Be sure the action of the body, the attitude and eyes work properly first.
