ABSTRACT
It might help to share another golden rule with you now. It is not enough to just create a great pose position. Experienced artists and animators all know that to maximize the visual impact of a posed image, it needs to be staged in such a way that the viewer will immediately see the story it’s trying to communicate. Communication in animated action especially is everything. Therefore, “silhouetting” is something that is extremely valuable to you. Silhouetting effectively means that if you choose to shade in your character pose black, then the silhouette it makes should still explain the story of the pose you have drawn completely. Hands, arms, and legs especially should be set away from the body in your poses, to make its silhouette stronger. To understand this fully, draw at the top of the next blank page these two versions of a character holding an apple. Compare the difference. Now shade in second versions of them both below and compare the difference from a silhouette point of view. (Take as long as you need to complete this exercise.)
