Drawn traditions

How a character is drawn by hand, and the wording that gets each tradition.

These are the styles a pencil and a brush made, and every one of them is still a real choice in a prompt. A model answers to the name of a tradition, but it answers far better when the next clause says how the line behaves, what the paint sits on, and how the light is divided. The nine here run from the painted cel of a studio feature to the rough pencil of a storyboard, and each one carries the clause that separates it from the tradition beside it.

Painted and inked

4

Four traditions built from an ink line and flat paint, told apart by what the line does and what sits behind it.

Cel Animation: An inked character in flat paint, laid over a painted background that is made a different way.

An inked character in flat paint, laid over a painted background that is made a different way.

Rubber Hose: Limbs drawn as bending tubes with no joints at all, and a body built from circles.

Limbs drawn as bending tubes with no joints at all, and a body built from circles.

Ligne Claire: One line weight everywhere, flat unmodelled colour, and no shadow at all.

One line weight everywhere, flat unmodelled colour, and no shadow at all.

Cartoon Modern: Flat angular shapes on textured paper, with the drawing pulled apart from the colour.

Flat angular shapes on textured paper, with the drawing pulled apart from the colour.

Traced, and photocopied

2

Two traditions that put something else on the paper first, and drew on top of it.

Rotoscope: Live action traced by hand, so real proportion and real weight sit under a drawn line.

Live action traced by hand, so real proportion and real weight sit under a drawn line.

Xerographic Line: The animator's own pencil line photocopied straight onto the cel, sketch marks and all.

Xerographic Line

The animator's own pencil line photocopied straight onto the cel, sketch marks and all.

The drawings before the film

3

Three production documents that were never meant to be the finished picture, and that read beautifully as one.

Storyboard Frame: A quick rough drawing made to test a shot, with the marks that explain it left on.

Storyboard Frame

A quick rough drawing made to test a shot, with the marks that explain it left on.

Model Sheet: One character drawn several times on one page, so anybody else can draw it the same way.

One character drawn several times on one page, so anybody else can draw it the same way.

Concept Painting: A fully painted still made early, to fix what the finished thing should feel like.

Concept Painting

A fully painted still made early, to fix what the finished thing should feel like.

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Other style groups

Anime and mangaThe looks from Japanese animation and comics, and the wording for each one.8 anime and manga styles PaintedThe painting media, and the wording that gets each one out of a model.7 painting media Made by handStyles built from real material, and the wording that gets each one.10 handmade styles Rendered in 3DHow a computer model is made to look like something, and the wording.11 render styles Soft materialsThe surfaces that make a hard form soft, and the wording for each one.10 soft surfaces Gradient and noiseHow a colour transition is handled, and the wording for each one.5 gradient styles Applied overStyles that put one thing on top of another, and the wording for each.4 layered styles Character shapesHow a figure is built and finished, and the wording for each decision.12 character styles Studio looksThe looks asked for by studio name, described by what is on the screen.8 studio looks Technical drawingHow a thing is specified rather than depicted, and the wording for each.7 technical styles

Print stylesPrinting a sheet rather than drawing a character? The same reference, for ink on paper.

A drawn animation style describes how a character is made: the line, the paint and what sits behind it. A design style describes a visual tradition, usually applied to a whole composition. The two overlap, and where they do, each entry names the other.