Animation Exercise: Judy Hopps Keyframe

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Keeping with the Lessons From Zootopia theme from last week’s update, today we’ve got an exercise for you to tackle! After all, practice makes perfect.

Byron Howard, co-director of Zootopia, recently stopped by YouTube with a lesson on how to draw Judy Hopps from the film. Check that out here:

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He provides some great tips in general, but one thing you’ll notice is that he begins a second Judy keyframeA keyframe marks an important step within an animation like the start or end of a motion. In computer animation a keyfra... More at the end of the video. This could also be seen as a breakdownA breakdown is a pose at the turning point of a motion path - often during the fastest moment of a motion. It's often se... More drawing for an expression change on the character.

Your task for today is to draw the keyframeA keyframe marks an important step within an animation like the start or end of a motion. In computer animation a keyfra... More that comes next! After the initial pose and then scrunched-down version, what would Judy spring back into? Shocked, perhaps? Excited? Aghast? The sky’s the limit!

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Use the techniques Mr. Howard showcases and rough in the next key. Feel free to post your result in the comments if you’d like!

Even if you’re a 3D animator, exercises like this can help you get a loose, freeing feel for character expressions and poses. It pays to take advantage of a master animator setting you up for practice like this. Remember, no one masters animation and drawing by only reading about it – you have to put in the physical work! Now’s your chance. Good luck!