From time to time it is good to go back and take a fresh look at basics, for as they say in tennis “The first rule you learn is the first rule you forget.” So starting from pose number one (so to speak) take the normal upright position. It is not what you ordinarily think of as an action but actually to stand is an action. Stand is a verb. Just think what you have to go through to remain standing. There is constant muscular adjustments and according to our individual physical structure, our attitude and the conditions around us causes everyone’s “stand” to be slightly different. It is utterly impossible for a person to do nothing. So in effect every position a person gets into is a pose. There’s a challenge for you whenever you are drawing — though the figure seems to be doing nothing, this isn’t the case. You must sometimes seek out very subtle nuances to capture the pose or gesture. When you begin to radiate out in all directions from that upright pose into the millions of variations of poses and gestures the human figure can assume it seems to get easier. It seems like instead of shooting an arrow at a tiny target, it is more like shooting it at the “broad side of a barn.” But it just seems that way. There are as many if not more subtleties in a broad pose as there is in a subdued one.
It may not take as much concentration to draw an action pose as a subtle standing pose, for you can get away with more. With a little extra effort in seeking out the subtleties of a broad pose as you must do for a lesser active one — you would end up with a really nice drawing — not merely a recognizable action.
So don’t settle for merely recognition — go for the subtleties. If you are animating and leaving those subtleties for the cleanup person to find, you are expecting quite a bit. A cleanup person should be skilled enough to “cover” you, but it is usually enough for the cleanup people to hang on to whatever the animator has drawn.
If you are a cleanup person, it behooves you to train yourself in those subtleties, so when they are needed in a scene of animation you are ready and willing. Cleaning up may not have the most glamorous aura about it, but it is an integral part of animation. After all, ours are the actual drawings that are seen on the screen. It is my contention that it is easier to animate a loosely drawn character in a scene that it is to clean it up. On the other hand, if the animator has worked clean and has all the subtleties carefully drawn, then the cleanup person’s job is a cinch.
So, whoever you are or whatever you are doing — take all these things personal. Make them personal. It’s not the other guy I’m talking about; it’s you. And then you will be proud…very proud. Pride is not a bad thing to have. Among you are the future “nine old men of animation,” which is not a bad thing to be.