Questioning Conventions 1

I realized that so much of my animation knowledge is based off of what I was taught, and not from what I've personally analyzed. This is the first in a series of attempts to broaden past the base concepts.

Blinks

There is a very formulaic way to do a blink (See Example 1).

Example 1:

I have been doing variations of this blink since I started animating. At no point have I ever really studied a blink, I've just taken the word of those that came before me. Don't get me wrong, this is a very effective blink. But I couldn't help but wonder if there could be more to it.

I took some time and really tried to break down and analyze the movement of a normal human blink.





Now granted not every eye rig can do this. But understanding these concepts could allow someone to move past the standard conventions. I urge you to take the time to study blinks on your own. I think you'll be surprised with how complex it actually is. I know I was!

Just for fun..I made my drawings into an animated gif. This was not the intention when I drew the images, so the spacing isn't quite right. Nonetheless it may help exemplify the concepts listed in my notes.