2D Head Turn - Lots of Trials

After designing my character, I was very excited to start my head turn. I quickly realised how hard this task was.

Model Sheet I drew and used as reference

I started by drawing my key frames, and using some of my model sheet drawings as some of the key frames to save time, as they were the angles I needed. At this point I was focusing on the main drawings, so the timing was incorrect, but I fixed this later in the process.

I then added inbertweens to make the movement smoother. As seen in the above videos, I used the markings from my model sheet to get the correct proportions of every element of the character.

In the 2nd stage I realised the animation was quite fast, so I made each of the frames become 2s, and then added inbertweens.

I then needed to add an arc shape to the movement for it to be more natural. As you can see, I struggled a lot with the shape of the arc. I did end up drawing an arc on a separate layer so I could place each frame along the arc as a guideline. The first attempts made it seem like the head was dipping in the middle, so the arc sketch helped avoid the sudden dip and instead let me create a nice curve. I also took out a few of the first and last frames, as it is quite unnatural for the head to turn from a profile to the opposite profile. Therefore, I changed these frames so the sequence starts and ends on a 3/4 pose.

The rest of the task was to include a 'take', which is a reaction such as a look of surprise, after the head turn. First I added a blink in the head turn as this is common in real-life head turns. I wanted to make my head act surprised, so I drew my key frames and then the inbertweens just like in my head turn. I felt the surprised expression needed some anticipation, so I made the head turn back to near the start, as if it was doing a double-take. I made this head turn slower than the first for more suspense and anticipation, and then made the turn into the surprised expression very quick. (as if the character had suddenly realised what they had seen) I quickly coloured this version, even though it is a sketch layer and not finished, as I wanted to test the colours and see if it made any mistakes stand out. I have yet to edit the hair, as it needs to show drag, and expand up in the surprised expression. I think once I've added the movement of the hair the animation will feel more fluid and finished.

I spent a long time redoing parts and trying to perfect this task as it genuinely excites me, and 2D is becoming one of my big passions. Even though I have spent hours doing this very quick animation; (and it isn't even perfect) I don't feel like I have wasted time because it's a skill I want to get good at, and it's so exciting to see a character (especially your own) come to life.