Full name/age/job title: 

Paul Nicholson, 31, Key Animator at Cartoon Network Europe.

Please give us an overview of your average day. 

Every day begins with coffee, breakfast, meditation and a walk to work. Once in the studio, I have a brief with the animation director, where we go over the storyboard drawings, discussing acting, character posing and intricate design details of the sequence I’m animating, taking notes and making sketches for key storytelling moments. It can be quite technical as the aim of each individual drawing is to further the story as effectively as possible. Nothing is left to chance. 

Key animation involves drawing the main storytelling elements in a scene. They are the basis for the rest of the drawings in the scene and must, therefore, be clear, “on model” and tell the story on their own. Key animation is part of a larger process that refines the rougher storyboard drafts into finalised drawings. Once the keys are completed, the “inbetween” drawings are done by junior animators.

The structure of my day doesn’t vary a great deal, but the content can be very unpredictable, bringing with it its own unique joys and challenges. I’ve animated Shakespeare, the grim reaper, a farting competition, an octopus in space... 

What is the most common misconception about your job? 

A phrase I often hear is, “It’s all done with computers”. It’s true, in the same way that poetry is done with computers. I draw directly into a computer using a digital drawing board called a Wacom Cintiq. The process is almost identical to drawing on paper and the same fundamental skills apply. The computer is merely a very useful tool. Without a functioning understanding of drawn animation, no computer in the world will help. 

There’s also the misconception that making cartoons is all just a big laugh, that animators work in hilarious, colourful studios surrounded by goofy people, rainbows and jelly beans and that drawing all day is super fun and no-one takes it seriously. In fact animation is a very nuanced and serious discipline that requires endless patience. So much analysis and effort goes into each drawing and everyone is so deep in concentration that it makes the studio a very quiet, studious and at times exhausting place to work.

What is the hardest thing about your role? 

Drawing for eight hours a day takes discipline and a lot of thought. I personally can’t listen to music while animating because I need to concentrate. I have to be ready to take criticism and not take it personally, knowing that my role is part of a larger, shared goal; to make a show the best it can be. There’s little room for egocentricity. I often put my heart and soul into a drawing, only for it to be changed, rejected or improved by the director. Animation is collaboration.

When did you decide what you wanted to do with your life and how did you set out to achieve it?

The thought never crossed my mind that my life wouldn’t be intrinsically connected with art, however, I didn’t always know what context my work would take. Through primary school to postgraduate degree, I spent all my spare time, including lunchtimes and evenings in the art department drawing, printing, painting and sculpting. I studied fine art as my undergraduate degree and my practice brought me to doing a lot of character and story-based work. Initially, on graduating I self-published an illustrated kids book before deciding to go into animation. I did a postgraduate animation course and took it from there. For me, working as an animator is part of a much larger creative journey.

What can you do to get a head start? 

If you want to be a successful animator, forget about animating and learn to draw. Drawing is the foundation of animation - if you can’t draw, you can’t animate. Study the fundamentals. Practice life drawing, anatomy and landscapes as well as studying cartoons and comics. Even if your passion is 3D animation, understanding of the principals of drawing, including composition and layout, is absolutely essential. Look at the larger canon of world art history. Animated cartoons are a niche of a much larger visual culture and understanding the history of your discipline will help your practice be more informed and relevant. 

Could you describe the creative element to your job?

It varies from project to project. Sometimes I’m asked to create concept art or produce character or background development sketches so the work is allowed to be very free and experimental. At other times I will receive very precise direction. Key animation in particular dictates the mood of a scene through the placement of the drawings. I am relied on to translate the emotions of the scene, to give life and personality to the characters, by determining how he or she acts. A lot of the creative element to the work comes from understanding the motivations of a character and therefore determining how he or she moves from one state to another. 

What’s the one thing you wish you had known at the start of your career that you know now?

Keep it simple. A lot of animation is problem solving, whether it’s a complicated drawing, a difficult movement or a challenging camera angle. Rather than losing oneself in minute details, more often than not, asking oneself how can I communicate the story as simply & effectively as possible, leads to a painless solution. At those times when I struggle with a sequence of drawings, rather than staying late and obsessing over them, I simply stop, forget about them overnight and on reflection and with a clear mind the next morning, the solution is often obvious. 

Which organisations/websites/resources do you think would be useful for people entering your industry?

There are countless resources & blogs online, including my own but some great starting places are Cartoon Brew, a digest of contemporary and historical animation. John Kricfalusi, creator of Ren & Stimpy, has an insightful blog full of animation resources Catsuka is a French language animation digest Animation World Network has a worldwide job board and links to animation schools and Animation Base is another good job board.

There are a lot of books on animation, but these cover everything you need to know:

Cartoon Animation by Preston Blair

The Human and Animal Locomotion Photographs by Eadweard James Muybridge

The Animator’s Survival Kit by Richard Williams

Character Animation Crash Course by Eric Goldberg

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