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shermcohen — Tutorial 6 Squidward Acting
Published: 2009-11-14 19:02:23 +0000 UTC; Views: 48486; Favourites: 1048; Downloads: 2145
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#6 in a series of 12 tutorial sheets created for the SpongeBob crew in 2005 (4th season) --More on Line of ActionI first encountered the notion of the "line of action" in the classic animation book by Preston Blair. He was an animator for Disney and MGM, and he popularized the concepts that were developed and being used every day by the masters of Golden Age animation.
The good news is that this book is available for free online, and the specific page you'll want to look at is about a third of the way down on this page>>>[link] <<<
Check out lots of free video tutorials on my blog at >> [link] << See you there!
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Comments: 42
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My Storyboarding teacher showed me these exact sheets.
They were quite helpful in drawing character actions.
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Squidward's acting has fascinated me to no end. His movements are this great combination of graceful yet belligerent.
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I LOVE THIIIIS... HE'S MY FAVOURITE CHARACTEEEEEEEEERRRRR!!!!!! <3
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thanks...so glad you enjoy this one
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No problem.
I did an essay partially on him last term explaining how he's so solidly drawn and appealing!
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This guy. Only sympathetic character on the show, for most part.
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So,this is what i've been doing wrong with my pictures,Poses were too boring.Man,i need some practice time.Thank you for posting this,its really helpful
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Ahh, such a simple idea.. but it really conveys a lot!! Thanks for sharing Squidward's acting!!
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ooooh i adore you
I never realized how important the line of action was until now. Thank you and keep up the great work
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Thanks! I'm super-glad you found it helpful 
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I've always read about the 'line of action' but I never really understood it until now.
For that, I thank you.
I will have to keep all of your tutorials in mind when I get into Ai for media arts <:
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Thanks so much for telling me about your "breakthrough." I really appreciate hearing that -- makes me want to make more tutorials ^_^
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Thank you so much for these tutorials! Until I saw this tutorial, I always used the line of action because I felt obligated to, without really knowing how to use it to make my drawings look more logical yet cartoony. After seeing this, I realized that the line of action should pose the character in a communicative way that helps to tell the story more simply and effectively. My drawing has improved a bit since (none of my new ones are on deviantART yet).
Besides the Preston Blair book, are there any other art/animation instructional guides that you'd recommend?
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WOW! Thanks for that very insightful comment about line-of-action. You really described it better than most! I'm glad to hear that the tutorial has been a help...please let me know when you've posted those new drawings!
Regarding other art/animation instructional guides that I recommend, I just posted a whole list on my deviantART Journal: [link]
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I couldn't refuse to giggle at the stiff Squidward for some reason.
But I can agree with many other deviants: It's very useful to know how to make poses more lively. 
Plus Squidward is my favourite character from Spongebob Squarepants, because his character is more believable. 
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Hi Lazy...and thanks! I've learned from watching classic cartoons that characters act a lot more with their bodies than I had ever previously thought! The best place to see this in action is in silent films from Chaplin and Keaton and Laurel&Hardy...they had to use their bodies because that's all they had to communicate with ^_^ PS..I LOVE drawing squidward...especially when I'm feeling crabby
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You're welcome. You can call me Natalie by the way, since I only use the username because everything else was taken.
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OOOOO This just sprinkles joy! These are really helpful! I'll have to try out line of action in future drawings! Comparing the first to the others, it really does make a difference!
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Hi elixir...I love your description: "sprinkles joy"...that's high praise indeed. Thanks!
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I think I have the same book with the line of action thing in it. XD
It didn't really work for me at first (because I was really young when I first tried), but once I got better at anatomy it all started falling into place.
Your work illustrates it very well!
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Thanks zimeta...a lot of times I've had that same experience with drawing books. A lot of it doesn't make sense until you've worked your way thru the problems yourself.
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So true. There were no anatomy books that could teach me how to draw bodies - I learned through trial and error. Good times.
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Thanks Hairology! Stay tuned, there's more on the way.
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This really helps, the lines of action are very useful when I draw my characters.
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Hi Verkins...yes, a good strong line of action is literally the backbone for any good dynamic drawing ^_^
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these tutorials are really helpful! Thanks for posting, I sure could use the practice
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Hi cricket...I'm sure glad to hear that you're finding the tutorials helpful. Thanks!!
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Thank you Lilly! Many more to come...
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Hi Kocoa...thanks...I'm glad to know it's helpful ^_^
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