Just draw it

Hi team! It has been a busy few weeks. An LA trip, Kidscreen, that sort of thing. And some news: I am now the new Chief Creative Officer of Cartoon Saloon. I have been at the studio more than five years now and I'm in awe each and every day by the talent and expertise of everyone there, and the dedication to the craft. To telling stories that simply couldn't exist in any other form. Working closely with Paul, Tomm and Nora every day is an honour and their trust in me means so much, especially given they knew what they were doing and made such amazing work long before I ever joined. Anyway, that's some nice news.

This post isn't about that. But it is related in some ways to a dedication to the craft.

You see, I started as an animator back in the pencil and paper days. When everything was hand drawn. Characters? Hand drawn. Backgrounds? Hand drawn. Effects? Hand drawn. Want to put it in your shot? There's one good way to do it: you draw it.

Just draw it.

Then of course software blew up and, in so many ways, it was a game changer. It could ease many processes even in very traditional animation. But even more than that, it could change our entire approach to how we make stuff. I remember learning Flash in a single Sunday afternoon and having a little Flash cartoon online by the end of it. From nothing to finished in just a few hours.

I'm not saying it was good.

But it was done.

And I got better at using it.

Then some software devs really started aiming at the studios with some great tools. Some real time savers especially. And different tools suited different shows and different looks. Now admittedly sometimes those tools were aimed at making things faster rather than actually making things better but that's okay. It's about getting the storytelling out there and, if they help do that, great.

But then some years ago I noticed something. I was directing a particular show (won't say which) and, during boarding, we would have tech breakdowns to figure out how we were going to achieve particular scenes with the software. Our characters were rigged so moving them was no problem but, if a movement went beyond the scope of the rig, we'd have to amend the rig, find a workaround or just not do that movement. Change of outfit? Well that's now a new rig so how can we do that? Water could be a headache. How are we going to do the water?

And I would sit in those meetings and the answer playing on a loop in my head was always: just draw it.

Please. Just draw it. Can't we just draw it?

And in an instant (not really, it was a very slow creep but it hit me in an instant), the software went from being an amazing tool that could open up options to one that was shutting them down. A limit to creativity. A barrier.

Our tools had turned against us.

I know, I'm being dramatic. But there are times when our tools create limits and not in a good way. Instead of the tool fluidly helping us take our ideas from brain to screen, they instead introduce layer after layer of process, getting in the way. I certainly felt that back when I learned 3D animation many years ago (why do I need so many menus just to get what's in my head onto the screen?!). A pencil doesn't do that. A pencil is a flow from you to the page.

And yes, some software helps that too. This is not an anti-software post! And for me, as I mentioned above, the lack of barriers in certain software is what makes all the difference. It's why I loved Flash. One afternoon. That's all it took to learn and it was versatile and could be used any way a creator chose to. With Flash, 'just draw it' is an easy and acceptable solution. Or it's why, after years of Photoshop menus and options taking up more and more screen space, I loved the cleanliness of Procreate on the iPad. Reduced barriers. So yes, this is not an anti-software post.

Instead, this post is intended to get you thinking about the tools you use each day and how you use them. Are they all really helping? Or are they introducing more barriers? Are parts of them serving you and other parts getting in the way? What is the most natural and most fluid path from your brain to the end product? The best path? The one that truly represents your creation? If you have some recommendations, let me know.

Every now and again, it's worth doing a bit of a tools stock take. Just to make sure you are getting what you need from them. Reconsider those tools that are holding you back.

And if you're really not sure how you're going to make something work, I can recommend one tried and tested method: just draw it.