This is a variation on something I made earlier as a congratulating gift. There was a message written in the sand which I decided not to disclose because only specific people would understand who's it for and what it's about. Since 2022 is approaching I took the opportunity to change it into something to end the year with.

{{< gallery >}} {{< figure src="/img/anims/2021_bg01_web.jpg" >}} {{< figure src="/img/anims/2021_bg02_web.jpg" >}} {{< /gallery >}}

The backgrounds are a combination of charcoal drawings and watercolor paintings layered on top of each other.

This is the second time I animated a human being. I knew I wanted a younger person. I tried showing his 'beach existence' through his gait and how he carries his body overall; a bit more relaxed and balanced in the joints and wearing loose clothing. I also wanted to make him a bit of an enigma by not showing his face and letting him fade away as he walks out of the frame, as if he's effected by the same forces that erase the message in the sand.

{{< figure src="/img/anims/2021_chartest_web.jpg" caption="Testing the colours and line quality" >}}

Animating a wave as in the second shot I tried distilling it to two basic elements: the mass of water and the foam layer on top. Both tend to move at the same speed when the wave comes crashing in, but the foam layer eases in later and expands when the body of water retreats back to the ocean. As a final touch I animated an overlay layer to suggest the wet sand drying after the wave had gone back. I'm guessing animating water is all about keeping it simple.

A nice discovery was the particle generator in Opentoonz. I was able to 'generate' the waves in the background of the first shot by drawing a single eddy and letting the generator scatter multiple along the horizon. Fiddling with the parameters long enough resulted in the effect of waves in the distance.

{{< figure src="/img/anims/2021_bg03_web.jpg" caption="Utilizing Opentoonz' particle generator" >}}

All sounds are gathered gratefully from freesound.org

Wishing you all a healthy and prosperous new year.