Paper Animation Puppets

     They are fun and easy to use for animation.
     All you have to do is draw up some figures, color them up, and cut them out.
     After that, they are ready to go.
     You can cut off an arm or leg or head if you want a little movement for the body.

     It does help a lot to make the puppets very brightly colored with high contrast.  They show up better on film that way.

      When I drew up these cartoons in the cafe, I did not know that I would later use them for animation puppets.
     They show up really well because I used black pens along with markers.
     The markers have a washy, watercolor look to them, and they are really great for bright, consistent color.

      Everybody showed up for the party in this picture.
     While I am thinking about it, when I work with these puppets, some of them have developed personalities in my mind, so that when I use certain puppets, I know how they behave.  It makes it fun, too.

     To some people at the cafe, this looks like a gigantic mess, especially to yuppies, and laptop users.
     I live in a tactile world, and I can only look at a computer screen for so long.
     I still like the real world.
     The Computer World can be a highly fictional place, created by people who want to alter your reality.
     So, for a couple of hours every day, I involve myself with tangible items.
     Plus, this is how I am identifying myself with animation.  The puppets are real, and only get imported into my computer via a digital camera.
     One day, I'll learn how to animate in Flash, I suppose, but I am too lazy right now.  Besides, this stuff works great, and gives a unique look to my animation.
     Also, I am prone to make errors in my animation, which gives a little bit of humanity to my animation work.  I can't stand when everything is perfect, because life isn't like that. 
     I think everything in life should be 99 out of 100, because nothing is perfect.
     I know a lot of people think that certain things are perfect, and they use that word a lot, but it is an idealism, and should never actually be obtained.  One should strive for perfection, but never reach it.
     Let's face it, perfection is easier to achieve when the standards are low, cheap, and easy.  My difficulty setting is adjusted way higher.