Overview of the course content by week | Introducing the 12 Animation Principles and some of the key animators who developed them | Thinking about sketching the figure through the lens of the Animation Principles | Dynamic figure sketching: loose gesture combined with solid structure using the volumetric forms | Practice sketching loose gestures and the volumetric forms (boxes, spheres, cylinders)

Introduction to applying the volumetric forms to begin giving the figure three-dimensional believability | Combining volumetric forms to create perspective and rounded volume simultaneously in the figure | Examples of use of the volumetric forms in animation drawing | Using secondary forms to describe and connect the volumetric forms

The Gesture and Animation (Things I Learned From Walt Stanchfield): Introduction to Walt Stanchfield and his role and importance to the development and training of Disney artists | Thinking of verbs and adverbs as we sketch the gesture (instead of nouns) | Developing the ‘kinesthetic sense’ – learning to feel the pose in our own body as a complement to our intellectual analysis of it

(Things I Learned From Marc Davis and Milt Kahl): Introduction to Marc Davis: his role and importance to Disney animation and Imagineering | Introduction to Milt Kahl: his role and importance to Disney Animation | Applying Squash and Stretch – using straight against squash to get interesting and dynamic design to our figure sketches | Adding Appeal to our sketches; defining appeal; the importance of corners to creating appealing design

(Things I Learned From Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston): Introduction to Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston: their role as two of Disney’s ‘Nine Old Men’ as well as authors of the seminal animation reference book ‘Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life’ | The importance of relating to and empathizing with your ‘character’ when sketching the figure | Staging: the importance of creating a clear, ‘readable’ silhouette with your figure sketches

Thinking About and Sketching Drapery In a Loose, Dynamic Way That Helps to Tell the Story of the Pose: Simplifying drapery; looking for and recognizing organizing patterns in drapery folds | Follow-Through and Arcs: seeing the ‘gesture’ of drapery action and to creating drapery design that creates interest and exaggeration to enhance the story of the pose | Props: their role in creating interaction and believability of the pose

Getting Out of the Way and Being Interested In What You’re Sketching (Things I Learned From Walt Stanchfield): Walt Stanchfield’s idea about the importance of being interested in the pose you are sketching and asking questions in order to determine and find the ‘essence’ of the performance within the pose | Walt Stanchfield’s idea about the importance of ‘getting out of the way’…focusing on the process of sketching instead on being worried about the ‘product’ of your efforts

Things I Learned From Heinrich Kley: The German Master Artist Disney Artists Have Studied Since the 1930’s: Introduction to Walt Disney’s implementation of the artist training program at his studio in the 1930’s and its history up through the 1990’s | Introduction to Heinrich Kley and the important impact the study of his work had on Disney animation | Introduction to Heinrich Kley’s sketches and analysis of the Animation Principles they demonstrate