• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

ChrisOatley.com

Disney Character Designer answers your questions about Concept Art, Character Design for Animation, Digital Painting & Illustration.

  • PODCAST
  • TUTORIALS
  • MENTORSHIP
  • ABOUT
    • ART
    • CONTACT
  • SUBSCRIBE

Interview With Ryan Woodward, Creator Of ‘Bottom Of The Ninth’ (Part 2) :: PWP #25

By Chris Oatley

Bottom-of-the-Ninth-wideThis is part two of our interview with Ryan Woodward, animator, story artist and creator of the groundbreaking iPad comic, ‘Bottom Of The Ninth.’

Click here for part one.

In Part Two Of Our Interview With Ryan Woodward:

ThoughtOfYouThis episode continues the previous discussion about Ryan’s emotional animated short Thought Of You where Ryan talks about how his early work in traditional effects animation influenced the design of the film.

“I credit so much to my early years, just learning how to design. …not really learning how to draw. Not learning how to draw cool characters or backgrounds, but learning how to design. Effects animation teaches you how to design.”

-Ryan Woodward

Early in his career, Ryan worked as a traditional effects animator under the direction of animation legend Michel Gagné.

In this interview, he shares a story about how effortlessly Michel could create a beautiful drawing. This story is followed by some interesting discussion about the link between effortlessness and beautiful drawing.

“Frequently a student will want the magic pill for how to design or how to draw and I just tell them, you gotta make the mistakes, you gotta fail. …a LOT.”

-Ryan Woodward

The Making Of ‘Bottom Of The Ninth’:

Bottom-Of-The-Ninth-212x300Then, Ryan tells the hilarious story of how his iPad comic Bottom Of The Ninth “completely snowballed out of control” because the passion he and his team of collaborators had for the project.

 ‘I hate the thought of putting a lot of effort into something and not seeing it done, not seeing a result. I want to get it to a point where I can actually say ‘Yeah, that’s everything I got.’ So if someone doesn’t like it, it’s going to be because they genuinely don’t like it and at least the honest truth is out there. I can’t fake it or make excuses.”

-Ryan Woodward (on giving his all to personal projects)

Ryan gives us a look under the hood to show us how his animated comic works.He gets into the geeky, practical details about media types, .gif tricks and how to keep the file size small.

Around the half-way mark on this episode, we ask the question that is on everyone’s mind: Is it possible to create a viable business with elaborate, animated digital comics?

We think you’ll find Ryan’s response both challenging and inspiring.

Inevitably, the discussion about Bottom Of The Ninth leads to the recently re-ignited hot topic of hand-drawn animation.

Lastly, Ryan shares how his personal projects have benefitted his life and career and he wraps up with some of the best advice about personal projects we’ve ever heard.

Listen To The Second Part Of Our Interview With Ryan Woodward:

http://media.blubrry.com/chrisoatley/artcast.s3.amazonaws.com/PWP25_RyanWoodward.mp3

[ download the mp3 ]

Resources:

Ryan’s new book about figure drawing is available now! Buy it here.

You can purchase ‘Bottom Of The Ninth’ in the iTunes Store: Click here.

Comment And Share:

What did you think about Ryan’s parting words? How did they help you with your current personal projects?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Please Share:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest

Subscribe To The Visual Storytelling Podast

Disney Visual Development Artist/ Illustrator Chris Oatley helps Artists and Writers find healthy, fulfilling careers in Animation, Games, Comics, Film and Illustration.

iTunesRSSEmail

Footer

Become A Professional Visual Storyteller

Art careers in the Entertainment Industry are flourishing. Subscribe today, never miss an update and learn what it really takes to break in…

Subscribe Now >>

  • VisDev
  • Character Design
  • Concept Art
  • Illustration
  • Mindset
  • Story

Copyright © 2023 Visual Voice, LLC · Privacy Policy · Terms Of Service · Cookie Policy · Community Guidelines · Log in · Contact

 

Loading Comments...