Since we are discussing full classical animation we must think of every drawing as though it is a three dimensional solid object with a support structure inside. It’s a mistake to think only in terms of flat paper and a series of lines. We must see into the paper and visualize depth as well as height and width.
Your characters are going to be made up of any combination of these three shapes: spheres, cylinders and cubes. Each of these shapes is used for different parts of the body.
Volume is directly related to construction. Your characters are not flat so all of the shapes are three dimensional forms, or volumes. It is very important that you keep your volumes consistent from drawing to drawing. If you don’t, your character will look as though they’re breathing. While that may not seem bad, since we want to create that ‘illusion of life’, in this case it would be a bad thing.
The act of squash on your character is a result of either weight and a change in the shape direction, impact with another object, or impact with a surface. It’s important that during this action the shape not loose or gain any volume. If it looses volume, it will appear to shrink, and if it gains volume it will look like it’s growing.
Squash and stretch are both linked as principles. One is usually the natural response to the other. When the character squashes, as in the example of the ball bounce when it hits the ground, it becomes compressed or squashed. As it moves up and away from the ground the ball will stretch.
This same principle is used within the characters body and head and will add to the expression of your drawings.
