Learn to Draw Animations in 20 Hours

Get to know Numecaniq’s secret to improve your drawing skills and gain fluidity in film animation

Rodrigo Miguel (@Numecaniq) is a designer and animator specialized in the 2D frame by frame animation technique. He also likes to experiment with other types of film animation due to his passion for drawings in movement. Thanks to his talent, he has collaborated with several brands and companies such as Adobe, MTV, Amazon, and Spotify; he has also taken part in international festivals such as Pictoplasma and the BDA Awards in New York.

Three years ago, Numecaniq discovered a system to learn everything in 20 hours: Josh Kaufman's method. He applied this to drawing and animating to incredible results.

Kaufman is a writer, entrepreneur, and author of the book The First 20 Hours. He is the speaker of one of TEDx's most viewed talks, with 12 million visualizations worldwide. In both, he shares the four steps needed to develop a new skill in only 20 hours. He developed and divided this method into the following:

- Break down the skill: to learn a new skill, it is important to know what is needed to achieve a reasonable level. When we split a whole into small features and abilities, we can identify what we need.

- Learn enough to know how to correct a mistake: learn as you do, not before or later. Investigate, take courses, and watch tutorials while you are gaining specific knowledge to detect when you are making a mistake and make appropriate corrections.

- Remove all the barriers that do not allow you to practice: remove all distractions. The stronger your will to learn something, the easier you'll be able to achieve it.

- Practice for at least 20 hours: don't give up, and get rid of your 'frustration barrier.' Josh Kaufman claims that the main obstacle when learning something new is not intellectual, but rather emotional.

Numecaniq put this method into practice by drawing the human body 40 minutes each day for at least a month. This practice helped him lose the fear of drawing and gain speed when animating, as he'd built a mental library of poses in his head.
Do not worry if your drawings are not perfect and clear; just do it.

Check out Josh Kaufman's TED Talk and learn more about his learning strategy:

Numecaniq teaches the following Domestika courses: 'Introduction to Traditional Animation with Photoshop', in which he shares his knowledge of frame by frame animation, and '2D Animation with Photoshop: Draw, Camera, Action!', in which he teaches you how to approach drawing for frame by frame animation and to be more efficient in developing projects of traditional animation with a focus on creativity and contemporary technique.

You may also like:

- Traditional Animation: Composition, Rhythm and Camera, a course by Ezequiel Torres.
- Express Animation for Social Media with After Effects, a course by Yimbo Escárrega.
- Design of Animated Stickers for Social Networks, a course by Sociedad Fantasma.