cartoon fundamentals_ how to create movement and action
DESCRIPTION
What is a cartoon without any kind of action? What is a cartoon, that doesn't tell us a story? Youmay have seen artistic studies of the human body, drawn from a live model for reference. Theywork very well for understanding how anatomy and muscles react when we suggest a move. Butthe sentiment behind this movement is not clear! It's just a reproduction of real life and nothingmore. The way to express movement and action in a cartoon style drawing is quite different fromreal life. Therefore, beyond the necessary knowledge to build your character's body, mastering thetechniques needed to add life to these forms is essential. And that's what we'll talk about in thistutorial!TRANSCRIPT
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Cartoon Fundamentals: How to CreateMovement and Actionby Carlos Gomes Cabral 4 Dec 2013 29 Comments
What is a cartoon without any kind of action? What is a cartoon, that doesn't tell us a story? You
may have seen artistic studies of the human body, drawn from a live model for reference. They
work very well for understanding how anatomy and muscles react when we suggest a move. But
the sentiment behind this movement is not clear! It's just a reproduction of real life and nothing
more. The way to express movement and action in a cartoon style drawing is quite different from
real life. Therefore, beyond the necessary knowledge to build your character's body, mastering the
techniques needed to add life to these forms is essential. And that's what we'll talk about in this
tutorial!
What You Need to Know
When developing a character in a given situation, the artist must build the appropriate action. Any
scene developed for your character should inform the viewer of the real intention behind the
character's actions. Their motivations, their feelings, their skills (or lack thereof) and their
personality. And all this must be achieved even in the absence of dialogue. The advantage of
drawings over live movies is precisely this: we can play with bodily expressions and exaggerate
emotions to the extreme. You don't need an actor, a studio, or excessive costs. Only paper and
pen. Your imagination is the limit!
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The objectives that should be pursued to achieve these results in cartoon are:
Simplicity;
Rhythm.
We will gradually understand the role of each in the composition of a drawn scene.
1. Line of Action
The "line of action" is an imaginary line that traces the movement of your character's body in a
simplified and generally intense way. Planning your drawings based on this line is an excellent
technique to achieve the desired goal. That way you can enhance the dramatic effect. Keep this in
mind the next time you draw your characters in action.
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The line of action should be fluid and streamlined so that we can clearly see the real intentions
behind each of the character's actions.
Notice how it looks odd when your design is based on complex lines of action:
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An example of misuse of the line of action—the line just doesn't fit the context in an ideal form.
We see a perfect example of simplicity and rhythm in cartooning. The line of action provides to the
artist a chance to broaden the impact of his scenes. Use this method even before defining the
proportion of your characters. I assure you that the final result of the movement will be extremely
satisfactory.
To help us understand the techniques and processes used to give life to cartoon drawings, we
must know the theoretical principles on which these techniques are based.
2. The 12 Basic Principles of Animation
In 1981, two of the greatest Disney animators (Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston) wrote a book
called "The Illusion Of Life". In it, the audience was introduced to the "12 basic concepts of
animation" that were used by the studio (since 1930) in an effort to produce more realistic
animations. Although these concepts were developed for use in traditional animation, they remain
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unchanged nowadays—even for projects created digitally.
The basic concepts are:
Squash and stretch
Anticipation
Staging
Straight ahead action and pose to pose
Follow through and overlapping action
Slow in and slow out
Arcs
Secondary action
Timing
Exaggeration
Solid drawing
Appeal
As my focus here is not to overwhelm you with all the techniques of animation, I'll focus on only the
main ones and find out what they can add to our otherwise "boring" designs.
Squash and Stretch
This is a major—if not the main—technique that should be taken into account when trying to draw
dynamism and movement into our characters. The concept boils down to the stretch and squash
scale of a character or object as it moves. By using this technique, we are adding weight and
flexibility to movement. Take the example applied to an object:
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Note the bouncing ball physics: when the ball falls, its speed increases and its shape stretches; when on the ground, it
extends horizontally (indicating the weight or strength of the gravitational attraction).
The above example perfectly illustrates the technique. Most likely you will not see a bouncing ball
that way in real life, but in cartoon form it works great!
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An example of the technique being applied to facial expressions: notice how the skull remains unchanged and only the jaw
stretches.
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Applying the same technique to an action scene. In the above example you can easily notice the weight that the character is
carrying. Notice how his whole body gets crushed in the lower part and stretched at the top.
Cool, right? This technique leads us to the next topic.
Exaggeration
Not much to say here, since this is a self-explanatory principle. Exaggerating bodily expressions to
add greater drama and impact to the drawings is a mandatory rule in cartooning. Picture what
happens when we are startled or frightened—an unexpected reaction occurs in our body. The
same should occur in cartoon drawing, but with a much more intense result!
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Notice how the eyes jump from the face of the character and how the body is stiff. This is an exaggerated representation of a
natural reaction we have in real life.
According to Disney's rule, the technique should be faithful to life, but must be presented in a more
extreme form. The exaggeration involves changes to the physical characteristics of a character, or
to an element of the scene it's in. Remember however, that it is important to maintain a good
sense of the action you are trying to illustrate when using this technique, in order to not confuse the
viewer.
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Exaggeration: Notice the lines of action that lead the character's movement. They help to enhance the movement of the
strength he exerts to lift the weight. This way you're really convinced that the ball is extremely heavy!
Anticipation
Anticipation is a technique used to prepare the viewer for an action that is about to occur. It can be
used to anticipate a move or the appearance of an object or character, creating an expectation
and preceding a climax.
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This is a classic example of anticipation: the character is preparing to run and leave the scene!
Theoretically, the anticipation consists of a timely movement in any direction which is reinforced
with a movement in the opposite direction. In cartoons, most of the time it means an anticipation
before the act itself and then a recovery process to complete the sequence.
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Notice in the above animation as we can insert the expected action: At the beginning there is a brief anticipation of
movement, which, in sequence, triggers the action. Gradually we observe the body entering a recovery process and
returning to a comfortable position.
Anticipation is a technique used often in cartooning to create expectation and impact in a scene—
whether animated or static. As an exercise, try to find other examples of this technique being
applied.
Take and Accent
In cartoons we call Take the effect that precedes an Accent—used to enhance the "surprise"
expression. This follows the pattern:
A character sees something surprising;
The anticipation occurs (head lowers quickly);
The "accent" occurs and the head comes upward;
The character settles down.
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Let's walk through this one together.
Step 1
We start with a character with a happy or natural expression:
Step 2
The character sees something surprising and anticipates the moment, lowering his head down
with eyes closed. This move reinforces the idea that he is seeing something unbelievable!
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Step 3
Next occurs the surprise reaction and the head rises.
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Step 4
The character settles down and enters the recovery process.
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Inside this process, the animators apply the timing of the scene, including additional drawings to
create smooth transitions.
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We can see the technique of "Squash and Stretch" that gives flexibility and impact to the movement. In real life, the only
flexible thing in our head is the jaw, which constantly opens and closes. But in cartoon everything stretches—even the head!
We'll talk a bit more about "timing" later.
Slow In and Slow Out
Naturally, when we prepare for a sudden movement or perform any action that requires effort, our
body needs a small fraction of time to concentrate the energy required to perform this motion. The
result is a sudden acceleration (or constant, depending on the movement), which will then reduce
until it returns to its normal state. This is one reason why a character's animation becomes
believable when the number of intervals or frames varies with frequency—it's an exaggerated
translation of what happens in real life.
In cartoons, when we place more frames at the beginning and end of an action—emphasizing a
specific movement—and include fewer frames among them, we create the so-called "slow in and
slow out." This principle is also widely used in animation when we want to move characters
between extreme poses, like jumping off the ground.
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Tip: If you are a web designer working with transitions to create animations in web pages, you've
probably came across the "timing" property of the Transition function in CSS3. This function
uses, among other parameters, values such as "ease-in" and "ease-out" to describe the velocity
curve of the animation. Likewise, if you work with After Effects to create awesome videos, you've
probably noticed in the Keyframe Assistant bar the "Ease Ease", "Ease In" and "Ease Out"
options. In both cases, if you've worked with some of them (or both), it means that you have
already applied this famous principle of animation to your projects!
Appeal
The appeal is something that could be translated as the charisma and personality that the artist
gives his or her creations. Whether they are good or bad, heroes or villains, men or women, the
most important thing is that the viewer creates identification with them. The physical features also
dictate the behavior and personality of the character. Therefore, any action or attitude that the
character takes, we should consider their physical, social and cultural features in order to replicate
the appropriate appeal for the same.
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In the figure above, notice how the examples clearly demonstrate the appeal of each character.
We may use subtle details to highlight certain features: Notice the woman's silhouette or the long
format of the butler's face and his stiff and always elegant posture. The important thing is to
understand the nature of each characteristic, and use them to add life to your scenes.
Search the movements and specific actions that each character uses to communicate with the
viewer. Do they behave as a sensual woman? A thief? A trickster? A butler? A waiter? A stylist?
What are the unique features that define them? What kind of clothes do they wear? We should
always observe how everything works and behaves in real life and use it to our advantage.
Let's move quickly through each one of the remaining principles just so we understand what they
mean:
Staging
Staging is used to direct the attention of your audience toward what is most important in a scene
that may involve several scenarios or objects. Basically, it is used to keep the focus on what is
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important and avoid unnecessary information. This concept is also strongly applied in comics.
Colors, lights and camera angles can be applied to reinforce the focus on the most important
details.
I've added a car to the scene to reinforce the message. Now we have solid context and everything starts to make more
sense!
Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose
"Straight ahead action" means drawing an animated scene frame by frame from beginning to end.
"Pose to pose" refers only to the design of key frames which will be filled with the remaining
intervals later. Interestingly, the first technique is used only in 2D animations. But the technique of
"pose to pose" is still used in storyboards for film and 3D animation.
Follow Through and Overlapping Action
"Follow through" refers to the persistent reaction in other parts of a character's body due to any
movement. How, for example, some body parts continue to move when the character stops
abruptly. "Overlapping action" is a technique in which some parts of the body move at different
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rates, such as when the torso, limbs or hair moving at a different time interval to the head. The
combination of these two techniques provides greater realism to animations.
Notice how the hair and shirt move at different rates to follow the action.
Arcs
The motion carried by a character or object that follows a path in a given stream, is called an "arc".
Imagine the repetitive movements of a conductor in an orchestra, the subtle movements of an ice
skater or the trajectory of an Olympic athlete in a jump. All of them must follow an arc of fluid
movements that put them in their specific categories. Bringing an object or character off its natural
arc in the moment of action, for no apparent reason, will make your art or animation look odd and
irregular.
Secondary Action
This is the technique of adding "secondary action" to the main action of the scene, in order to
emphasize the message that you want to send. Imagine a character walking down the street
without paying attention, and cars passing by him to emphasize the danger. Or create, in your
mind, the facial expression that oscillates as a character tries to balance on a tightrope. These are
examples of secondary actions that reinforce the main idea of the scene and work only as a
complement.
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Timing
The "timing" means the quantity of drawings that make up a particular action. For example: An
object or character that moves slowly or with difficulty, is usually a heavy character. So it reflects in
the amount of frames you need to draw to portray the scene realistically. The same works in
reverse, with a lighter object.
Timing is an extremely important concept in animation and is widely used to help compose the
character and its actions.
Solid Drawing
The "solid drawing" refers to the accuracy of your drawings on a sheet of paper. They need to
have volume and weight to be properly understood and appreciated. Notice, however, that this
doesn't refer to the amount of realistic detail in your art, but just to the way you represent to the
public your theoretical knowledge of drawing things. The artist who has mastered the
fundamentals of design can create a three-dimensional illusion in his art, even when drawing on a
2D layer. This is the real illusion of life.
Some styles of cartooning require extremely faithful representation of objects, clothing and
artifacts in order to properly translate a scene or place the viewer in a certain period of history,
exposing minute details. For this reason, the theoretical and practical knowledge of the
fundamentals of drawing and human anatomy are indispensable.
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Here at Tuts+ we have several articles and tutorials, written by many different authors, that will help
you to dive into these fundamentals. That way you will be able to wander through several different
styles of drawing, making yourself a complete artist.
3. Sequential Movements and Walk-Cycles
According to Warner Bros. animator Ken Harris, "The walk is the first thing to learn." Learning to
make a character walk properly is one of the hardest things represent in cartoon form, because
there are several ways to do it that vary according to the volume, weight, context and intensity of
the scene.
It is interesting to note that the act of walking is nothing more than learning how to support
ourselves. In other words, we strive to avoid falling with our face to the ground! Imagine a baby
learning how to stand... it is the process called "step-catch".
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We human beings, when walking with confidence, don't have jerky steps. In fact, we hardly raise
our feet. Our movements are contained and minimal, with the sole purpose of making our body
move forward.
Well... in cartoons, things work slightly differently. You can tell a complete story with the way a
character is walking. For this reason, we must apply some techniques of exaggeration and timing
to get a more interesting result.
Let's analyze the simplified process with the template below:
An example of a simple walking cycle process: The body slightly rises up in the passing position.
Notice in the picture above, the arms are always in opposition to the legs and as the body rises up
in passing position, one leg is not bent.
Now we fill in the gaps with the remaining drawings and complete a basic walk cycle in cartoon
style:
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Different Ways of Walking and Running
As I said earlier, in cartoons (and in real life) there are several ways to walk, and these can be
used to express feelings and desires in characters. Several templates are used to represent
these feelings:
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Famous animation templates: See the three different types and variations of walking pictured above, they were built based
on Cartoon Animation book, by Preston Blair. I’m sure you’ve seen these several times in various cartoons..
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Example of a strut step: In this type of step, the body goes up and down all the time.
Differences Between the Walks of Four-Legged Animals
Four-legged animals are a more complex subject because you need to move the front and back
paws, and in different ways (depending on the complexity of the movement, in different timing too).
This flexibility of movement adds a certain complexity to the task, but is great for the study of the
movements of real life.
The walk of a cartoon animal is a simplified translation of what happens in real life. The muscles
and joints react differently depending on the transition of the movement:
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See above the passing position in the front and back paws: The head falls slightly with the chest when the back leg is in
transition. The opposite occurs with the foreleg.
In a cartoon style there are still some types of steps that follow other rhythms. Let's look at two of
them below:
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As an exercise, try to find where the lines of action are in the above movements. Note also that the gallop is an excellent
example of squash and stretch.
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An example of an animated gallop. The front legs lead the movement, giving the necessary momentum.
A realistic walk or run cycle depends on several factors, such as weight, height, intention... The
most important thing is to observe these movements using real references.
This subject of walk/run cycle is quite complex and deserves a tutorial dedicated solely to it. Other
animals, such as horses, have subtle differences in their anatomy that make their forelimb behave
slightly differently when walking. See the section on "Hoofed Animals" in my previous tutorial for
more details. To make a deeper study of the movements of the horse, take a look at this excellent
tutorial written by Monika Zagrobelna.
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Putting it All Together
Finally, below is an animated sequence I did with several examples of the techniques that we've
seen above. Squash and stretch, anticipation, staging, timing, overlapping, exaggeration, arcs,
appeal... Can you identify all of them?
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That's All Folks!
There is a current debate that continues to discuss the role of traditional animation in 21st century
art. Modern animation studios like Pixar and Dreamworks still use at least 90% of the techniques
discussed above. Give life to a drawing, whether through pin-ups, comic strips or cartoons—it's
wonderful. Making a child believe that an animal can talk and act like a human being is amazing.
When you can provoke emotions in the viewer, no words can express the artist's feeling of
accomplishment in that moment.
Nowadays, computers are able to perform tasks unimaginable 15 years ago. Motion capture
technology and other software allows the artist to get ever closer to reality. But, where's the reason
in replicating reality and completely missing the magic of a cartoon? Forgive me, those who
disagree, but the traditional concepts of movement and action created almost a hundred years
ago still dictate the rules—and will dictate them for a long time yet.
I thank everyone who accompanied me on this adventure. Keep practising and until next time!
Difficulty:
Beginner
Tagged with:
Illustration Animation Comics Character Design Drawing Vector
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About Carlos Gomes Cabral
+ Expand Bio
I'm a product from the madness of the 80's, living in the city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). I've been fond of arts,
comics and music since I was a child, I dedicate myself to several projects at the same time and I hate
sitting still. With a Bachelor's degree in IT, I'm currently working for a technology mobility company. I'm
also in love with motion graphics, HTML5, web design and UX trends. You can find me on Twitter (@cgcabral).
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• Reply •
Dijana Dević • 7 months ago
Thank you so much :-D. This is beautiful!!!
1
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago Dijana Dević
Glad you like it, @Dijana Dević!
There's more thing to come yet.
• Reply •
Jassim Nasser M. Al-Ali • 5 months ago Carlos
How can I animate for cartoon such as Young Justice, and the others And what
kind of software that I should use recommendly?
• Reply •
Urvashi Suraiya • 3 months ago
Fabulous fabulous stuff and so inspirational! Thank you.
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• Reply •
Guest • 5 months ago
How can I animate for cartoon such as Young Justice, and the others And what kind of
software that I should use recommendly?
• Reply •
Becca • 5 months ago
This is really amazing! thank you so much for posting this! Thank you so much for taking your
time and making this :)
• Reply •
Duskren • 5 months ago
How have you not made a book??? Great stuff!
• Reply •
123mine123 • 6 months ago
Nice tutorial as always Carlos! Again, once imagination can be improved through gesture
drawing and try to sketch as many forms as possible.
This tutorial mostly applies to animators and as a person who tried Flash, I find this incredibly
tiresome and requires loads of patience.
Though time consuming, it is incredibly fun!
To people who's reading this, a great book to buy now that is incredibly helpful is to get the
book "The Animators Survival Kit."
It contains everything what is saids here and more!
Now excuse me while I'm going back to head and anatomy since I still don't get the basics
down... :C
• Reply •
Tom Rudman • 7 months ago
Awesome tutorial - thanks so much!
TOMRUDMAN
http://www.tomrudman.com
• Reply •
Francisco • 7 months ago
i want to become an animator so bad, i still lack of practice but i won't give up thank you for this
tutorial
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago Francisco
Never give up! Practise is the key.
:-D
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30/6/2014 Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Create Movement and Action - Tuts+ Design & Illustration Tutorial
http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/cartoon-fundamentals-how-to-create-movement-and-action--vector-19904 37/41
• Reply •
• Reply •
Lou Mareno • 7 months ago
another amazing tutorial thank you so much Carlos.
Lou
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago Lou Mareno
Thank you, @Lou Mareno!
• Reply •
Adam • 7 months ago
I really like your tutorials, they are the breakthrough I needed!
I struggle (as many people do) with drawing hands and feet for both humans and animals; don't
know if it's in your plans or not, but it would be awesome if you could make a tutorial based
solely on that subject. Thanks a lot!
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago Adam
Thanks, @Adam.
Cartoon Hands will be the next covered topic. Stay tuned ;-)
1
• Reply •
Barbara Valentini • 7 months ago
Amazing as always! Thank you so much! :)
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago Barbara Valentini
Thank you, @Barbara Valentini!!
1
• Reply •
Saquib • 7 months ago
Simply awesome! Thanks for this tut, relay appreciate
• Reply •
Amanda • 7 months ago
Thank you very much for this tutorial!!
• Reply •
mifa • 7 months ago
Excellent tutorial very helpful i really enjoy it. Thanks a lot
Roman F. • 7 months ago
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30/6/2014 Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Create Movement and Action - Tuts+ Design & Illustration Tutorial
http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/cartoon-fundamentals-how-to-create-movement-and-action--vector-19904 38/41
• Reply •
Roman F. • 7 months ago
Wow... Really brilliant post. Thanks.
• Reply •
acrylicana • 7 months ago
Stellar work, Carlos! Bookmarking for a proper read-through.
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago acrylicana
Glad you liked it. Thank you!
• Reply •
BlueMonkeysFromMarz.com • 7 months ago
Not to take away from Carlos' obvious technical abilities but some of these lessons, however
basic for animation, are practically traced from Preston Blair's books and Richard Wiliams'
book.
• Reply •
adsescdvdfv • 7 months ago BlueMonkeysFromMarz.com
I know what you mean the "Different Ways Of Walking And Running" and "The
Difference Between The Walk of Four Legged Animals" Is Identical to Preston Blair's
book about animation.
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago adsescdvdfv
Yeah, these are animation blueprints widely used by most animators. While
some professionals in the industry is aware of these techniques, most
beginners have never been presented to them. I've used the walk-cycle
examples based on the book solely in order to gain more time to develop the
artistic part of the tutorial - which were really time consuming. I'll make sure to
update the post and mention the book, though.
Thanks!
• Reply •
Kirk Wallace • 7 months ago
Thrilled to read this tonight, this is a good topic for me :) thanks
Jose O • 7 months ago
Carlos, I love your tuts I have been going through all of them and they are super helpful and
from animators perspective this tut was truly gold, thank you for putting time into this tut. Your
awesome!
- Jose
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30/6/2014 Cartoon Fundamentals: How to Create Movement and Action - Tuts+ Design & Illustration Tutorial
http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/cartoon-fundamentals-how-to-create-movement-and-action--vector-19904 39/41
• Reply •
• Reply •
Carlos • 7 months ago Jose O
Thanks a lot, @Jose O!
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