Then, there's the third reason: the advent of the 'xerox' cel process around the time of 101 Dalmations. Someone along the way (I'm gonna say it was Disney animator Freddy Moore, but it probably wasn't) discovered that using a colored pencil- especially a blue pencil- was a great way to knock out the first pass of your animation then you could go over it with graphite AFTER Walt approved the movement/acting. It's not that big of a deal to have a 'messy' drawing in animation, but it is a problem when 'ghost images' (stuff you erased but can still be seen) start popping up on the page and making your pencil tests hard to make out. The second reason is that graphite pencils are DARK and often times stain the paper and don't erase well (more smearing). When you are animating a scene, you are moving fairly fast to 'feel' the movement as much as possible (though the animation process is actually like watching grass grow). The simple version is that graphite (average black) pencils smear. Here's the history of why animators use colored pencils for their 'underdrawings' in animation: It all started long ago- like in the 40s- with the early animators. What's the advantages (or reasons) of doing that instead of just going straight for it like something Glen Keane usually does? Also, is the black you go over with a Col-Erase too?' 'I notice animators like you and Andreas Deja use a blue pencil and then go over it with black. Second.the Great Animator Blue pencil mystery: Its for a video game design contest in China that I, along with some great artists from around the world, will be judging in the new year. I wanted to write a quick journal to hit on two things, a question I've gotten often and to share a link to an interview I did recently.įirst, the link to the interview: It's a short interview, but has lots of pictures.

Colored pencil animation