Covenant House of California – Claymation 101 03/03/22

We got to join the Covenant House of California youth for some sweet Claymation 101 this week!

Right off the bat these bright young things picked up on how to keep it simple and pick a few traits to make your characters unique. We talked about letting your imagination form the clay as you go and explored techniques like how to make parts stick using cross hatching, how to blend colors, and accentuate features to convey a mood.

Then we secured our phone cameras to take three steady snaps as the figures moved across the screen and next thing you know, you’ve got your first claymation short!

In just an hour, this talented crew kicked out original characters like a robot panda, a bouncing blue frog, twirling ghostly octopus, a proud Viking Santa, a determined inch worm and more. They went with their instincts and used pencils to create puppets and a Broadway-bound singer even gave our tiger a triumphant theme song!

The possibilities are infinite when we form supportive communities like this and give each other creative space. We talked with each youth about what they like most about the arts and they were hungry to try animation, film, ceramics, theater, graphic design, and vocal arts. We shared how working as a Production Assistant is how many of us got our start in animation and also how there are creative aspects to every field nowadays and that everything from libraries to corporate offices and schools need people with creative abilities. We know they will go far and hope to have helped spark some ideas of how to begin.

Thanks to our artists, Matthew Bennett (Blue Sky, Raven, Nickelodeon, Insomniac Games…) and Elizabeth Winter (Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Paramount, MTV…) for volunteering.