In between level 1 and level 2 exercises from the Animator’s Island, my computer needed to be reset and incidentally, I lost all previous project files which means I also lost the files for one or two of the level 2 exercises. For now, I guess I’ll just have to practice this again, but this is what I’ve practiced after the “character showing emotions” prompt, which I guess I’ll just come up with an idea to recreate that if I ever find a copy of the file somewhere! However I did manage to salvage a gif from my old instagram account…More practice makes perfect so maybe it was a secret blessing that I can start fresh. Below is 5 of the 13 exercises for level 2.
Character Emotion change practice, featuring Exarchall’s original final fantasy character “Ruuj”.
Sonic the Hedgehog jumps over a gap.
About this exercise: I actually have earlier versions of this exercise which I’ll leave at the end of this post but I wanted to challenge myself by creating a different perspective than the typical flat 2D stage I usually set for a lot of these practices. This took 3 days, including the practices.
Character stands up from a chair, featuring Luther (for a future client project).
This exercise was very difficult and I have a version of this where I tried to figure out how the feet should look so technically I did draw the rest of the legs but left them out with a camera cropping haha. This took 2 days sometime in December of 2024 or January of 2025.
A walk cycle exercise.
This is exactly meant to look similar to the Animation Islands website example of the walk cycle, and for some reason in my mind, the exercise was so scary! Perhaps I was intimidated to start because of Richard William’s iconic exampled featured on his videos and cover of his book, “The Animator’s Survival Kit”. This took 1 day.
walk cycle with swinging arms, this is intended to feature Jericho (another character for a future client project).
Once I tried it for Jericho while practicing to see if I could keep a consistent base design, I found it easier, and threw on his arms. I hope he looks relaxed as this seems to be his personality. This took 2 days.
(UPDATED) Character on a pogo stick, featuring Jevil.
This one took 23 days and was faster because I’m looking forward to the release of chapter’s 3 & 4 of Deltarune this year! I am guessing with the recent developer updates from Toby Fox’s Bluesky, it may take anywhere between early spring and early fall for a release date of the game between game console tests, trophies, & promos.
But about the animation itself! Many moving parts that I just now realized I didn’t add Jevil’s tail! I’ve now added Jevil’s tail! I think I had more trouble with the frill than I did with the cape, and maybe the shoes/foot shape could use some work before I come back to color it.
Stay tuned for more updates via my Cara account as well as right here on Finding Me! I’m also starting a video game and cinematic music program, the first few episodes focusing on Toby Fox’s music, so look forward to that!
To support the creation of Animation Level 2 video, head over to my Ko-Fi!
