Last week while streaming, we got to talking about how it would be interesting to "fly through" one of my landscape paintings. One thing led to another, and we started discussing watercolor animation. Before I knew it, the idea was deeply planted in my subconscious. For a week all I could think about was how to make this happen.
So, on Monday this week I decided to give it a try. With no animation experience, except knowing I'd have to paint the same thing over and over with very subtle changes, I began!
Here's the final result:
Stats:
- 9 hours of painting
- 1 hour of editing/compiling in Photoshop
- 15 frames
- 4"x6" watercolor postcards
As shown in this image, I taped down each frame, and painted them side by side.
Since I didn't have a light table, I "eyeballed" everything (which is not ideal). I did a quick sketch on each card for the 3 main trees, and the rest I painted as I went. After painting all 15 frames I took photos of them and imported them into Photoshop.
I added a "tween" after each image which is basically just a blurred transitional image of the previous frame. It makes the images flow better.
Lessons Learned:
- Get a light table! (just ordered one)
- Keep some objects as stable as possible so the eye has a place to rest (light table needed)
- Plan out all of the frames ahead of time
I'm really excited about this project and I can't wait to do more! My next animation will be a mountain range with moving clouds.